Ways of the Dragonborn: The Wanderer (5)
by Samuel Keller
Summary: The past never escapes you. Even when you walk on a lonely road with only the wind beside you, your past still follows closely behind. And the only way to get rid of it is to turn around and embrace it.
1. Chapter 1

**Now this one excites me! You'll notice a lot of people being connected together in this one, so watch out for all the allusions! **

A lone wanderer walked down the field, snow swirling around them. They had an odd appearance, since they didn't look like a nomad. They wore the armor of a warrior, steel plated and dented with obvious battle scars. On their back was a large warhammer, which appeared to be Orcish.

The wanderer looked at a necklace around their neck. It had a symbol in the medallion, three circles all interconnected.

The wandered looked up, revealing that they were a woman. They were also a Redguard, with black braided hair and green eyes. Multiple scars ran down her face, but she still was rather pretty.

She saw a small shack in the distance and decided to settle there. If they would take her of course.

She saw smoking rising from a fire in the shack and her stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten for a few days and it was beginning to affect her strength.

She finally reached the cabin and noticed a single man was on the porch. He was tuning a lute, his head bowed underneath a straw hat. He looked rather old, but that was only in the appearance of his hands.

The man looked up at her and smiled, revealing that he was in fact very old.

"Ah, hello there young lady. What are you doing so far out here?" asked the man kindly.

"I'm not sure" she admitted stepping over to him.

The old man played a few notes on his lute, making sure it sounded right. Then he stopped and looked at her again.

"Gods, where are my manners? You're probably freezing in that armor."

He grabbed a shawl around his neck and handed it to her. She nodded in thanks and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Please, have a seat. I put a nice pot of soup on a little while ago. It should be ready in a moment."

The Redguard sat beside him and tightened herself up to keep warm. She shivered slightly, before a bowl was thrust into her face.

"Please, eat. I made enough for two anyway" he said settling back into his seat. She hadn't even saw him leave.

She graciously sipped it, noting how it filled her body with warmth. She ate slowly, making sure to savor every sip. It was fairly good soup, but that might've been her starvation making it taste good.

He took up his own bowl, not even bothering to ask her questions. He seemed like he was perfectly content to helping a stranger.

"Now, can I please know who you are?" inquired the old man putting down his bowl.

"Kamaria" she answered softly.

He grinned. "Beautiful name."

The old man sniffed the air. "I smell something on you. Ashes…and…water. Interesting mix."

She looked away. "Trust me kind stranger. There's nothing interesting about me."

He smiled. "I get so few visitors now, everyone is interesting to me. This is my summer home too. Normally I live in this little mountain top meditating my days away. Sometimes I come here…and…look over it."

He gestured the field. "This was a huge battlefield during the War of the Reach. Countless Bretons died on this field, as did Nords. Ulfric Stormcloak himself walked on this field. It's…quite amazing."

"What's so interesting about war?" she asked depressingly. "War is just the death of countless people influenced by those above them."

"You sound like you've hit a stage" said the old man wisely.

She turned to him. "Pardon?"

"You reached the age where you know that war is influenced by world leaders, not the men who fight in them. Originally you thought warfare was a random event, like it was not supposed to happen. Now you think it's the result of a conflict between two people with some power behind them."

He smiled. "Then you hit my stage, where you realize another truth."

He sighed and looked at her. "War is inevitable. It is a natural cycle that is meant to balance out peace. As is death and life. Everything is meant to balance everything around it. That is what things do."

She grunted. "That makes sense. I just wish I could understand it."

"Same here" muttered the old man. "I thought that little story up about three years ago. Been meditating nonstop trying to figure it out still."

He put his bowl of soup down and began to play his lute. It was a simple melody, but very melancholy. It seemed like he was playing a tune from his heart.

"What song is that?" she asked curious.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I just made it up."

Someone else approached the cabin, someone who appeared very intimidating. He wore a long black robe and had a white mask over his face. His hair was down and appeared shiny silver.

The masked man stopped in front of the cabin, adjusting his mask.

"Old man" he said simply. His voice was very smooth and elegant, like a royal.

"Yes my old friend?" asked the old man. "Do you need some help in your Dragonborn problems?"

"No. I came for a different reason."

He pointed to Kamaria. "I came here for you."

She looked at him sideways. "Do I know you?"

"You know me by my other name" answered the man.

He lifted the mask up slightly, showing his smile.

"You know me as Gust."

**And before you ask, no, that is not Fog. That is clearly HIM. **


	2. Chapter 2

They sat inside the old man's cabin, which had a few more things than revealed outside. It had multiple beds inside, like it was a small inn. Other than a fireplace, it had no other decorations.

"You ran from your past" stated Gust almost angrily. "You denied your legend as Dragonborn."

"It's just a legend. I have no need to be a child of prophecy" protested Kamaria.

"It's not your choice. Neither was it my own to be a Dragonborn. But it's the card we've been dealt. You need to embrace it."

"What if I don't want to!?" yelled the Redguard. "How about that!? I just want to be alone!"

She sniffed and bowed her head, crying.

The other Dragonborn in the room put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand. You tried to run away from everything. Your past, your mistakes, everything. I did the same thing. But you can't do that. Your past will catch up to you."

She looked at him. "What must I do then?"

He sighed and adjusted his hair. "We must go back. If we ever hope to get you back into fighting shape, we have to bury your past."

"We?" repeated Kamaria.

He sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. I have to make sure this works, personally."

He put his hood over his head, concealing his silver hair. "So I'm coming with you. To make certain that it is well and buried."

They walked out of the cabin, brushing past the old man, who was still playing his lute.

"You all decided on a course of action?" asked the old man looking up at them.

'Yes. I'm going to help her. We need to get her back into the fight" stated the Gust adjusting his mask.

He turned to his traveling companion. "Let's go. We have much to see."

They began to walk down the field, the same one from before. Gust turned to look at her. "Do you remember this field?"

She looked at his surprised. "Remember it?"

She looked up at the sky, letting her sorrow wash over her. "I remember every detail about this place. I remember the despair, and the pain. And the blood. So much of it. This was not a good place."

"Not true" stated Gust looking at a patch of dead grass. He bent down and picked up a flowering rose. It was pure white and he held it to his chest.

"A field stained with blood you say? Well here I find a rose as white as snow. Because even blood washes away from things."

He sighed. "I am grateful it does. Otherwise, my sins would never be atoned for."

Kamaria nodded. She had been told limited tales of the man before her. She sighed and looked up.

"I do remember one thing above the others. A man…"

* * *

"_Fifth battalion! Advance!"_

_Kamaria sprinted through the field, her armor half-on. To be honest, she had no idea who to fight here. She was a recent recruit in the personal army of Ulfric Stormcloak, fighting against the Breton scum that plagued the lands. At least that's what she'd been told. Currently her entire battalion was running towards a fort with arrows raining down on them. It wasn't that great._

_She reached the wall and swung her hammer. It smashed through it and she rolled inside. While she wasn't experienced, she knew a few moves that should work._

_Something smashed her in the face, sending her to the dirt. Obviously her moves weren't working._

_She looked up into the face of the Breton before her, a huge grin on his face._

"_Say goodbye!" he taunted raising his mace._

_She closed her eyes. This would probably hurt._

_She heard a sickening wet sound come from the Breton and a gasp._

_She opened her eyes and saw that someone was standing between her and her attacker. He wore standard leather armor, but he had a white cloak over his frame that moved in the breeze._

_The white-cloaked man grabbed the Breton and threw him aside, revealing that he had punched a hole in his gut with a sword. _

_The man turned, revealing his smooth tan face and black hair. Mostly, he revealed his chilling blue eyes._

"_Your attacks are too slow" he said bluntly._

_She nodded and bowed her head. "Forgive my insolence captain. It was an honest mistake."_

"_Then get up and rectify it" he ordered raising his long sword and pointing into the fort. "We have much to kill."_

_She stood up and began running further in, beating herself up mentally. Gods she felt like an idiot, especially in front of him. Despite all the things Ulfric dumped on her or any of the other girls, the captain was the only one who could make her feel bad._

_She looked to her left and saw the captain was running beside her, his sword held loosely in his right hand. Even in the middle of combat she admired his style. Everything was like a method, as if he was a machine. Every move had a purpose and not a single ounce of energy was wasted._

"_Quit staring at me" ordered the captain sternly. "Your eyes must always be on the enemy."_

_She blushed but turned back to face the front. "Yes captain."_

* * *

Kamaria shook her head, clearing the memories. "That was a long time ago."

"But you still hold it in your heart" stated Gust calmly.

"What should I do then? Forget it? Like nothing happened?! As if it never existed?!" she yelled angered. "What do you want me to do?! Throw away my feelings and my guilt?! It's my fault for what happened to him! And there's more than just him who was affected by me!"

"Yes, but there is a simple truth you must know."

Gust sighed. "Guilt is the crippling disease of mankind. Forgiveness is the cure. What you do not understand Kamaria, is that you do not need to forgive anyone, or have anyone forgive you."

The Redguard stopped and stared at him in shock.

"The only person who you need to cure is yourself."

He turned. "Come. There is more you must see."


	3. Chapter 3

Kamaria looked at the ashes of an ancient campfire, noting how the burns looked. They were in the middle of a forest this time, out of the old battlefield.

"Amazing. This was years ago and yet the ground is still marred."

"Even when everything washes away, the scars of the old still remain" said Gust adjusting his mask again. "That is why we carry scars. Because even if we forgive ourselves and move on, we must never forget."

She smiled. "I'll never forget this camp. I got my ass handed to me here daily."

* * *

_Kamaria felt a huge object smash into her head and she fell backwards. Hitting the dirt, she noted that she was staring into the sky._

_She growled. "Not…yet!"_

_She got back up and swung her sword. Her opponent easily countered it and slugged her in the face. _

_The Redguard collapsed to her knees and the judge raised his left hand. "Winner: Fourth Battalion, Skjor!"_

_She glared at her opponent, who was a typical Nord. He wore iron armor over his frame that was accented with wolf fur at the edges. In his grip was a large sword, almost a long-sword. _

"_Not too bad darkie" he taunted grinning. "You nearly hurt me."_

_She snarled and one of her men came beside her. "This is stupid Kamaria. You can't kill Skjor. He's…well…he's a genius."_

"_A genius?" she spat. "What does that word even mean, huh? That he never worked hard for his skills!? So what if I wasn't born with great abilities? But I'll become great and I will never stop trying! That's why I keep living and breathing!"_

"_It doesn't change a damn thing" said Skjor coldly. "No matter how hard you try, I will always beat you. That's a fact of life. You beating me is like a rabbit learning how to fly with the hawks."_

"_That is not true and you know it!" she yelled furiously. "That is…not true."_

_She felt a tear slip and quickly stood. _

_Her captain went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Kamaria…"_

"_Don't talk to me" she snapped walking off. _

* * *

_Kamaria swung at the tree, her warhammer smashing into the wood until it stopped. She swung again and cleaved a little more._

_She panted heavily. She had been doing this for hours and she still wasn't satisfied with her swing. It was too slow. She'd get stabbed in the back at this rate._

"_Come on!" she yelled to psych herself up. "I can do this!"_

_She swung again and tripped. Smashing her head into the log, she sank to the ground._

_She placed a hand to get up, but stopped because she was crying. Half of it was from the pain in her head, but the other half was something in her heart. _

"_Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it" she whispered to herself._

_She heard footsteps behind her and someone stopping barely ten feet from her._

"_Kamaria?" asked her captain judging by his voice. "I did not expect to see you here."_

_Even now he kept his blank and cold talk, as if he was referring to dirt. It made her hate him even more._

_She stood and began swinging at the tree again._

"_If you are here because of my performance at the spar captain" she said swinging, "I said I was sorry. I know I dishonored you with my actions and words."_

"_I didn't come here for that" stated the captain calmly. "I came here to talk to you about something more important. Your overall performance."_

"_Please do not try to make me feel better captain" she said not wanting to look at him. "I know you have done so in the past, with other incompetent recruits. I do not deserve such pep talk."_

_The captain smirked, something she actually heard. "You idiot. I don't waste my breath anymore on false praise. But I will tell you something that's true. You may not be the strongest, or the fastest, but you have more heart than this entire battalion, possibly more than Ulfric himself. It's that heart that will make you strong."_

_Kamaria stopped swinging and rested her head against the tree. "Thank you for saying that. But yet…I doubt your words."_

_He stopped and looked at her curiously._

"_Every time I step on the battlefield, I am unsure of myself" she said into the tree. "I am afraid to die because I know I'm too weak. I see an enemy…and my body starts shaking." She began to sob deeply, gripping the log firmly. "I can't hold myself together! It's like my body even knows that it's going to die! I wish I could believe you but I can't! I know that I'm a loser and I will always be a loser!"_

_The captain stared at her blankly, almost like he was angry at her. "You're right. You always will be. If you don't believe in yourself enough."_

_She stopped crying and turned to face him. "What?"_

_He scowled. "You haven't figured it out yet? The key to being a successful warrior isn't the strongest swing or the fastest dodge. It's about having the courage to say, 'I will not let you overtake me!' That's what makes a warrior."_

_He drew his sword. "So let me test if you are worthy enough to become a warrior or not."_

_She looked at his sword in astonishment. "But captain, I am so tired. I cannot fight you at full strength…"_

"_I do not wish to defeat you. Just a few swings will tell me enough" stated the captain. "Now swing or I will do so first."_

_Kamaria stood and lifted her heavy warhammer. She breathed deeply and swung. _

_Her captain easily blocked it and deflected the hammer. Swinging his sword, he nicked her in the face._

_She stepped back and swung again. He ducked under it and grabbed her arm._

"_I have seen enough" he said calmly._

_She stopped, staring into his eyes. They were cold, but they also held a touch of understanding._

"_I see now that your weapon is full of doubt" he said analytically. "When you swing, you doubt you will hit me. When you block, you doubt you will resist me. Even when you lift your weapon, you doubt you will kill me. That's why you are not the warrior you are. Your heart is too full of doubt."_

_He lifted up her warhammer and guided her hands to the proper position. "Now, let me show you what you must do."_

_He let go of her, but walked beside her and raised his sword. "Raise your weapon like mine" he ordered gently._

_She did so and looked at him for further commands._

"_Now, here is what you must do if you wish to fight well" he said gripping his sword. "When you swing, say, 'I will hit you'. When you block, say, 'I will resist you'. And when you raise your weapon, say, 'I will kill you'. Do you understand that?"_

_She nodded. _

"_Good. Then first things first."_

_He swung his sword forward. "What do you do?"_

"_I will hit you" she said half-heartedly swinging it in the same direction._

"_Again!"_

"_I will hit you" she spoke with a little more force._

"_Do it again!"_

"_I will hit you!" she yelled with authority._

"_Good! Now block!"_

_Kamaria raised her warhammer and gripped the ends of it, forming a line over her head._

"_I will resist you!"_

"_Again!"_

"_I will resist you!"_

"_Very good! And when you raise your weapon?"_

"_I WILL KILL YOU!" she exclaimed turning to the log. She then raised her hammer high and swung._

_The warhammer cleaved clean through the log, throwing up bark and splinters everywhere in its path. _

_The Redguard breathed in air, savoring the adrenaline she had built up in the last few moments. She still felt the tears from before, but now she felt stronger._

_Her captain nodded. "Good. That is a start."_

_He turned to leave, but stopped. "If you wish to become stronger, then never let those words leave you. And most importantly, keep your heart close with you."_

* * *

Kamaria looked at her old stomping grounds, rubbing her warhammer affectionately. She reached out and touched the old splintered stump from long ago, the same one she had crushed that day.

"Captain. Thank you" she whispered under her breath. "I can never forget what you did for me that day. You helped me find my heart."

She smiled softly with a blush on her face. "Sadly, you took it with you."


	4. Chapter 4

Gust and Kamaria walked out of the forest, passing past a river. This was a huge trip down memory lane for her, since these events had happened so long ago. It was refreshing to be back here.

"He was so nice to me, even though he never knew how to show it" she said picking a tulip from the water. "He always had this way of saying just the right thing at the right time, especially when my heart was the most vulnerable."

"He sounds like a great man" stated the mysterious man adjusting his mask.

Kamaria looked up into the sky and noted the grey clouds. "He was."

* * *

_Kamaria sat on a rock, eating her lunch quietly. They were marching after their three day siege and had stopped for a break._

_Her captain sat beside her and she immediately stiffed. "Captain. I will move if you wish."_

"_Please don't" he instructed opening his pack. "I could use some company."_

_She nodded and began eating._

_Her captain sighed and held up a single apple. She looked at him in confusion until she realized that the apple was the only thing in his pack._

"_Captain, if you do not have any food, I will gladly…"_

"_Not necessary" he said biting into it. "This will suffice."_

_She gave a slightly disappointed sigh. She was hoping to please him for some reason, as if his opinions meant something. But it wasn't your typical kissing up to the older guys. It was something else that she couldn't put her finger on._

_She turned to the river below her and picked up a tulip. Studying it closely, she smiled._

"_That's a pretty flower" complimented her captain honestly._

_She nodded. "I'm glad I found it. I guess winter is finally leaving."_

"_That is good. This country is far too cold for my taking."_

_Her captain grabbed his canteen and plunged it into the cold river. Rising it from the depths, he began guzzling it._

_Once his drink was finished, he looked at her. "I have a question for you. Why are you here?"_

_She looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"_

"_You are a Redguard. They are not natives of Skyrim. Were you born here?"_

_She shook her head. "No. I am hoping to raise a family here though."_

_He looked around. "While this is a pretty country, I don't think this is the best place. It's practically falling apart."_

_She nodded. She was fully aware of the problems Skyrim was having at the time. The Bretons in the Reach, the weight of the Imperial Legion and bandits._

"_But this place is so magical. So much history was born here that we all can relate to. I wouldn't want to miss seeing the fatherland at least once, and I hope to let my children get the chance."_

"_That is a noble goal" he complimented. "Have you already have children?"_

"_No. Not yet."_

_Her captain nodded. "I hope you do. No one deserves to not leave anything behind for the rest to remember."_

* * *

"We were preparing for battle that day" said Kamaria thinking back. "It was first real time I got a chance to really talk to him. He didn't seem so cold then. He was nervous for some reason. I wasn't sure why."

"Perhaps it was because you were there?" proposed Gust.

She blushed. "I didn't know that at the time."

"You were thinking that. I would know. I have probed deep into the female mind before. Remember, you aren't the first Dragonborn I have trained. And definitely not the first female."

She smiled. "Yes. And I am grateful you are helping me with this. These memories, I would've forgotten them if you hadn't brought them back."

"Memories are what makes us who we are. Leaving them behind is the worst thing we can do."

He turned and looked at the mountain in the distance. "Unfortunately, there are more dangerous places we must go. And the memories of those places may not be pleasant."


	5. Chapter 5

_Kamaria stared at the bodies of the recently slain Bretons in the cavern, noting what they looked like._

"_These ones gave out without a fight" she said quietly. "Some of them were begging for mercy before they died."_

"_Agreed" stated her captain staring in disgust. "What animal did this?"_

_They heard a scraping sound and someone walked in. He was holding a huge crescent blade and wore only half of his armor. The rest of it was utterly shredded and was held together with only a few fibers._

"_That would be me captain" said the man grinning madly._

_The captain turned in utter revulsion. "Vingalmo. Are you willing to explain your actions?"_

"_Sure" he said placing the blade on his shoulder. "They bored me, so I killed them."_

"_That's a bullshit excuse and you know it!" yelled Kamaria. "They were innocent civilians!"_

"_Innocent? Civilians? What does that mean?" asked Vingalmo curiously. "They're Bretons. They're the enemy. If you don't cut down the women, then they'll just give birth to more of these motherfuckers. If you don't cut down the children, they just grow up to become like their fathers. Something like honor seems like an idiotic idea when you think of it that way."_

_The captain snarled. "You're scum. Children and women do not deserve to die. If this war is successful, then they will become part of our culture eventually. There was no need to kill them!"_

"_That's where you are wrong" stated Vingalmo rubbing his eyes. "If they really are the savages we have been fighting for so long, then they'll never give up their idiotic ways. That's how savages work. It's pointless to try to reason with savages."_

"_That's exactly why I stopped trying to reason with you Vingalmo" said the captain angrily. "You are scum."_

_The man laughed. "I am scum! I know that all too well! That's the reason why I'm in this army! You need scum like me to clean up your own damn messes! I'm the thing you send in when you want all the fuckers dead and no questions ask! You need guys like me!"_

_Someone smashed his sword hilt into the Altmer's skull, sending him flying to the floor._

_Ulfric Stormcloak scowled at Vingalmo, his sword freshly bloodied from his head. "Shut your mouth. I only let you in because of your combat experience against magic users. If you were of no use to me, I would be mopping up your blood with a sponge right now. You're an Elf, which makes me like you a little less, and a total brute. Show some respect to the dead at least, if you are unable to show any to the living."_

_Vingalmo nodded. "Of course commander. Sorry for the outburst. I got a little blood drunk."_

_Someone stepped up to Ulfric and said, "Commander, we have found a secondary cave system in the mountain. We have reason to believe that the Bretons are hiding more in there."_

"_No doubts" said Ulfric nodding. "Fifth battalion! Go inside that system and kill everything that moves!"_

"_Does that include me?" asked Vingalmo curiously._

_The Nord commander scoffed. "You are a member of the third battalion Elf. Stand down."_

"_Just asking" said the Altmer innocently._

_Her captain turned to Kamaria. "Let's get going. We have somewhere very important to go to."_

* * *

Kamaria felt the edges of the cavern, noting the dampness on the walls. A few years ago, they were covered in blood. Now, they were covered in water and moss. It was a very welcome change of scenery.

"If only we had known what was inside this mountain" she murmured to herself. "We could've avoided this fate."

"I apologize, but even I do not know what was inside this mountain" said Gust rubbing the stone walls. "What exactly was here?"

The Redguard shivered, and it wasn't because of the cold. "Something evil."

* * *

_Her captain lead the battalion, having cast a Magelight spell that was hovering over his head. He had his sword drawn, but he looked peaceful. While the rest of them were huddling around torches and other such things, he alone didn't seem afraid of the dark._

"_There are little signs of activity here" he said analytically. "I am beginning to think we are wasting our time."_

"_Never hurts to check captain" reminded Kamaria. "They could be trying to disguise their shortcut."_

"_True" he replied blankly. "Let's keep going."_

_They reached a huge cavern inside the system and saw that there was something inside this place. It was full of water, but that was not it._

_Placed inside the cavern was an ancient ruin of unknown origins. It looked Nordic, but it had disintegrated so far that it was barely recognizable. _

"_Whoa. Game-changer" muttered a random soldier._

_Kamaria nodded silently, staring in wonder at the ruin._

_The captain scoffed. "How bothersome."_

_He turned behind him. "Inform Commander Stormcloak that we have ancient ruins in this place. It will take far longer to search through it than originally anticipated."_

_A messenger ran back and the captain turned back to the ruin. "Let's get moving. We need to do this as quickly as possible."_

_They began making it into the ruin, crossing the small lake in the cave. Despite the mass amounts of dirt and grime that is normally associated with caves, the water was completely clear. _

"_This place…something is off about it" stated Kamaria looking around. _

_Her captain gave a nod in agreement._

_They reached the ruin and entered through what looked like the front door. Since there was very little for walls, they assumed the thing that looked like a doorway was the original entrance._

_The foyer or courtyard (since they hadn't figured out if it was a city or a building) was packed with columns that were utterly destroyed and empty torches. It appeared that this city had been laid to waste and then burned. _

"_This is incredible" murmured Kamaria. "This place is so burned I can't even tell what it was."_

"_Something bad happened here" responded the captain. "But I saw something dash by me. We are not alone in here."_

_The rest of the battalion straightened up and formed into a defensive circle._

_Suddenly a man screamed out in pain and terror, disappearing without a trace._

"_Shit! What was that thing?!"_

"_It looked like a dog!"_

"_Remain calm!" ordered the captain. "Watch each other's backs!"_

_Another man was grabbed and this time they saw him get taken. He scraped at the floor beneath him and tried to stop it, but to no avail. Then he utterly disappeared when he reached a long shadow._

_The captain raised his hand and charged a large Magelight spell._

"_Enough of moving blind" he said throwing it into the ceiling._

_The ball of light hit the top of the room and expanded, illuminating the entire thing. They looked at where the two men had been dragged, hoping to find something._

_Instead they only found the remains of their clothes, tattered and torn. There was no blood or ashes, just their regular clothes. _

_Someone went over to them and felt them. "They're ice cold" he concluded looking up at the captain._

_Her captain snarled. "Someone is playing games with us. We are going to figure this out."_

"_Shouldn't we wait for the rest of the group?" asked a soldier. "We should ask for reinforcements."_

"_My spell has a limited cast time" explained the captain. "Not to mention, it is getting dark soon. If the enemy's advantage is darkness, then the only way we can assure our dominance is to go while there is still light. And I do not wish to camp anywhere near here at night. This spell is limited, but it is mobile."_

_He grabbed the ball of light and put it into his other hand. "Let us get moving. We were ordered to clear this cave system, and we will follow our orders."_

_He ripped a torch from his belt and smashed it into a crevice in a rock. Lighting it with his spell, he began to walk further into the ruin, the torch being a marker._


	6. Chapter 6

_The fifth battalion of Ulfric's army marched further into the underground ruin, leaving torch markers behind every fifteen feet. Her captain led them, fearless and resolute. _

"_What do you think is in here captain?" asked Kamaria looking around in the shadows. She didn't see anything of suspicious nature, but the darkness made her feel isolated in here. It clung to the air and clawed at your throat just by being there. Even the light of the Magelight spell did next to nothing._

"_Something that is fond of darkness" replied her captain calmly. "Whatever it is, we will find it sooner or later."_

_Suddenly a burst of pure blackness flew by the group, trailing what sounded like metal behind it. The battalion jumped and the flash was gone._

"_It is trying to intimidate us" muttered her captain._

"_Is that a good thing?" she asked nervously._

"_It's scared" said the captain grinning. _

_They reached an open area and looked around. It appeared to be an ancient courtyard of some sort, with a large ruined fountain in the middle. While the stones were old and ash still lay there, water was trickling into the fountain from above, giving the place some life._

_Her captain stopped and looked around. "There are three other places inside this place. This will be our base of operations."_

_He set his Magelight spell on top of the fountain and gestured around the courtyard. "Place torches in every corner. I don't want anyone sneaking up on us."_

_The fifth battalion carried out its orders and he began splitting up tasks. "First unit, stay here and watch over camp. Second unit, go back the way we came and guard the exit. Third unit, take the building to the left. Fourth unit, the building on the right. Fifth unit, come with me. We're going to check this central one."_

_They all split up and Kamaria walked over to her captain. "Just give the word captain."_

_He nodded. "Come on men."_

_They walked into the central building and began laying down torches. As they went, more of the building revealed itself. It was a huge atrium-like area, with a high ceiling and tall walls that gave the feeling of looking up into the sky._

"_It's a cathedral" concluded one of the men._

_Her captain nodded. "Yes. But of what deity?"_

_He stopped them and sniffed the air. "Something smells off in here. There is no ash smell."_

_He knelt down and put a finger to the ground. Raising it to his nose, he took a small breath._

"_This floor smells…new" he murmured amazed. "It's like it was polished yesterday."_

_He stood and looked around. "But the walls and ceiling…they're black with pitch. How can only the floor be new?"_

_He grunted. "Damn. I hate puzzles like this."_

_They reached the end of the cathedral and saw that they were at an altar. It was made of simple stones and completely untouched by dirt or dust. On the top of it was a small book made of black leather._

_Her captain stared at the book and poked it with his sword. Sensing that it was not booby-trapped, he picked it up._

"_Hmm, it only says, 'Prayers to our Lord'" he said looking at the title. He scowled. "Damn thing's locked."_

"_Captain!" exclaimed a solider. "I found a key!"_

_He held up a simple gold key and her captain snatched it. "Where did you find it?"_

_The soldier looked rather cowed, then held up a rotten hand._

"_He was holding it" said the soldier._

_Her captain nodded in understanding. "Why was a dead man clinging to the key to a prayer book?"_

_He studied the hand and saw that a gold chain was wrapped around its wrist. While burnt almost beyond recognition, he knew it was some kind of priest symbol._

"_So he was the priest? He must've been in the middle of a sermon when the fire started" concluded the captain logically. He stared at the book and the key. "But the best question is: why didn't he run?"_

_The entire unit remained silent to give their captain time to think._

_Her captain shrugged. "Irrelevant. For now we need to…"_

_He stopped when he saw that something was underneath the altar. He knelt down and saw that it looked like a piece of cloth._

_He tugged it, but it refused to move. It was like it was wedged underneath._

"_Help me move this" he ordered pushing the altar._

_The rest of the unit moved over to him and began shoving. Despite how solid the altar looked, it was fully able to be moved with enough force._

_They gave a final heave and revealed that there was a hole underneath the altar. The piece of cloth was nailed to the side of the hole with a small corner of it sticking out, possibly to indicate where the hole was._

"_A tunnel underneath a cathedral? Now I am certain this is not a church for the Divines" said the captain. He grabbed a torch and dropped it into the hole._

_The lit torch smashed into a stone floor below and illuminated a small part of the room. It appeared to be a solid stone tunnel made of granite._

"_Well, obviously this cathedral has more than its fair share of secrets."_

_He turned to his men. "Half of you, stay here. The rest of you, come with me."_

"_Captain, are you sure it's a good idea to go down there?" asked one of the men._

"_I mean, what if you got killed somehow?" proposed another._

"_You forget. My lieutenant is already safe in the first unit" said the captain logically. "If I die, he takes over. There is no problem. Besides, the likelihood of my death is fairly low. I am a captain for a reason."_

_He raised his sword and it arced with a strange yellow light. It sparked slightly, but looked very stable._

"_Let us get going" he said dropping into the hole._

_Her captain landed and swung his sword around, static flying off of it. When nothing attacked him, he gestured to the rest._

_Kamaria landed beside him and raised her hammer. _

"_Captain, we may be walking into a trap" she said logically._

"_Then we walk to it with swords drawn" he replied raising his sword._

_The rest of his small patrol joined him and he looked up at the remaining. "Stay here until…"_

_Suddenly a stone shifted from the side of the hole and began to slid to the other. The hole was sealing itself up._

"_Shit!" yelled one of the soldiers above. He wedged his sword into the stone, but it didn't stop its progress at all. _

_The hole sealed shut and the patrol at the bottom began to panic._

"_Oh man, we're gonna..!" exclaimed one before Kamaria smacked him._

"_Idiot! We can't possibly die! We have our captain here!"_

_She smiled at him. "Right?"_

_He didn't answer and raised his hand upwards, back at the sealed entrance of the hole. _

"_Stand back" he ordered._

_As he said that, a small ball of magicka charged in his palm. It too sparked and danced like his sword, with that same yellow light._

_They all hit the ground and he fired the ball._

_It smashed into the stone barrier and exploded, drowning him in dust and dirt. Even still, he didn't so much as flinch in response. _

_The dust settled and revealed that the stone had only been burnt, not so much as a crack._

"_Damn it" muttered the captain. "We can't go back that way."_

_He looked further down the tunnel, into the dark. "We are left with only one choice."_

_He pulled out a small bottle and unscrewed the cork. Handing it to one of his soldiers, he knelt down._

"_We have limited torches, so we're going to have to use primitive lighting."_

"_Captain, this stuff if glowing mushroom oil" said the solider._

"_Exactly. Every step, put a few drops on the ground. It isn't the best for getting rid of darkness, but at least we won't get confused on where to go. When we get out of this tunnel, then we'll use torches."_

_They nodded and he raised his sword determined. Even now, waist-deep in the unknown, his face was unmoving. _

"_Let's go" he ordered walking forward._


	7. Chapter 7

_Kamaria followed closely behind her captain, her hammer ready to swing at whatever popped out at her. While she was afraid, just having a man like him at her side was soothing. _

_She looked at him, still in awe at his behavior. He looked like he was taking a walk in a park, and not a tunnel a hundred feet underground in pitch dark._

_She gulped. Now that thought was running through her head and it made her nauseous._

"_Relax" said the captain, as if he could read her thoughts. "It is logical to feel fear. All things are afraid of the dark. It is a natural instinct."_

_They heard something clatter against the ground and they all whirled to the source._

_One solider pointed to a wall, where the sound came from. "Rats" he explained._

_Her captain nodded. "So there is life. At least we know that."_

_He kept walking, but a notable crease was in his brow. "But if there is life, than it has to have water and air. And judging from what I've seen, very little of either is in this place."_

_They saw that the mouth of the tunnel was approaching and the captain pulled out a torch._

"_Let us see where we are" he murmured exiting the mouth._

_As soon as he got out, he knew that they were still underground. Next to no light was in this place and it looked like they had entered some kind of prison. Running under his feet was a simple stone walkway that stretched to beyond his gaze, branching off in different areas. But that was not the part that made it a prison._

_Hanging from the ceiling were individual cages, all of them bound with chains. While some of them were empty or nearly destroyed, some of them were still full._

"_Captain" murmured Kamaria._

"_We continue" he said firmly. "Until we find the exit, we cannot stop moving for anything. Ignore the cages. It is none of our business."_

_They kept walking, laying down torches as they went. Even though he had ordered them not too, every single solider looked inside the cages. _

_One solider gasped. "Captain…this one…"_

"_I thought I told you to ignore the cages" he spat annoyed._

"_Well, I know sir, but this one…"_

_The captain turned and looked inside the cage. Then his eyes widened._

_Two men, both of the devoid of clothing were lying on the bottom of the cage. They were covered in a black resin that was hardened to their skin like tar. Even through the grievous injuries on their back and chest, he knew what they were._

"_Those are the guys we lost at the entrance" muttered Kamaria amazed._

_Her captain nodded. "Our foe is intelligent."_

_He turned and kept walking. "Or perhaps…it is instinctual."_

"_What did it do to them?" wondered a soldier turning away from the corpses._

"_I am beginning to think our foe is not just an 'it'" stated the captain. "Remain on your toes."_

_By now they only had about fifteen men with them, so they all banded up together. The only one without fear was the captain._

_Kamaria walked up to her captain. "Sir, what if this thing…what if it gets anymore?"_

"_Then we might die" he said calmly, but low enough so that no one else would hear._

_Her eyes widened. "Really?"_

"_Of course. Death is always an option. After all…"_

_He stopped when he found something. It looked like a pillar of black tar was pouring from the ceiling and splashing onto the walkway. It stretched seemingly into infinity and glistened with a strange light, as if thousands of stars were inside of it._

"_This is the same stuff on those two" commented a solider._

"_Don't touch it" ordered the captain. _

_They walked around it slowly, not letting so much as a drop hit their clothes. It bubbled slightly and it seemed to make noises._

"_It's…breathing" noted Kamaria quietly._

_One solider was simply brushed by it, then he looked at his arm and screamed in horror._

_The black goo, which had touched his hand, was now growing rapidly. It traveled up to his shoulder and began to morph over his neck._

"_Captain!" he cried out in fear. It spread to his head and began to collect in his mouth. Something in his neck snapped and it gushed forth from his eyes and mouth._

_Her captain strode over to him and sliced him with one swing._

_The man fell off the walkway and plummeted downwards, trailing into nothingness._

_The captain looked around. Only a few drops were on the ground where the man was._

"_Don't touch it" he said sternly._

_He began to walk away, then he heard something. _

_He turned and looked over the edge. Even in the endless darkness he saw something move._

_His eyes widened and a hand flew from the dark, grasping at the top of the walkway. It had seven fingers and bubbled with the same black goo as before._

_The captain backed up and aimed his hand. A familiar ball of lightning formed and he fired._

_A chunk of the walkway shattered off from his spell, but the hand quickly reformed and attached to another part._

"_Run!" he ordered sprinting away._

_They followed closely behind him and noted that the soldier from before was back. He looked like one of the corpses, but the black goo was still fresh on his body. His face was twisted in a huge smile with jagged teeth and no lips. His eyes were a blank yellow that bore through the darkness. His hair was completely gone, replaced by a set of two extensions that looked like exaggerated ears. He bore resemblance to some kind of wolf or fox in a humanoid body._

_The mutated solider sprinted after them, trailing the blackness behind him. He even ran like a predator, claws close to the ground and head pointing forward._

_The captain gestured forward and slid to a stop._

"_Get behind me!' he ordered turning to face the mutated creature._

_They got behind him, so that the captain was facing the beast._

_The captain raised his sword and swung. _

_An arc of lightning bore through the stone walkway and he leaped backwards, doing the same with a later section._

_The walkway split apart and a five foot section collapsed, making a large hole between them and the beast._

"_Brilliant!" complimented Kamaria._

_The beast stopped at the edge of the hole and roared in anger. It glared at the captain, who stared back with blank eyes._

_The beast knelt down and screamed into the air, a high-pitched sound that would've shattered glass._

"_It's summoning friends" muttered the captain._

_He turned. "Keep running!"_

_They moved further into the prison, noticing that the cages here were overflowing with the black ooze. It looked as if they contained eggs of the stuff, solidified into a shell-like structure inside the cages._

"_Whatever this stuff is, it's obviously intelligent!" yelled the captain leading the group. _

_They stopped when something revealed itself. Coming from their right from another walkway was a group of those beasts, all of them the same._

"_Wherever they are, don't be there!" he ordered leading them away._

_They kept changing direction like this, moving away from any groups on different walkways. It was a game of cat and mouse, except with odds like two hundred cats and ten mice._

_They stopped and realized that they were at a dead end. Nothing was waiting for them except a ledge._

"_We're trapped!" shouted a panicked soldier._

_The captain turned and saw that the beasts were slowly approaching, almost taunting them with their casualness. Every single one had a grin on their face, as if the hunt was already over._

"_I do not go down without a fight" he muttered annoyed._

_He walked forward towards them and raised his sword._

"_Duck" he ordered._

_His sword began to charge nearly white with energy, sparking intensely and chaotically._

_The soldiers hit the floor and the captain roared, putting the sword in a death-grip with both hands._

"_Lightning Pole Arm!" he yelled swinging._

_The lighting flew from his sword and extended the blade, carrying it almost five times the distance._

_It hit the beasts and boiled away their skin, slicing through them like lightning through paper. Even so, there were still some who had survived the assault and were still coming._

_The captain ran forward and the Lightning Pole Arm began to accumulate at the end._

"_I'm not done!" he roared raising it high._

"_Lightning Bomb!" he exclaimed swinging it down in the center of the crowd._

_The lightning exploded outwards and nearly destroyed the walkway underneath it. The beasts were torn to shreds and flew in every direction, burning and screaming._

_The captain panted heavily and the lightning left his sword completely, leaving with a hot sword._

_He collapsed to his knees exhausted, but still had a confident smile on his face._

"_Captain Ordal, are you okay?" asked Kamaria kneeling to his level._

_He nodded. "Yes. That technique took a lot out of me. But now we can try to find a way out…"_

_He stopped when he heard something. Turning around, he stared at the dead end._

"_No" he muttered amazed._

_The men looked with him and saw that something was rising from off the edge of the walkway. It looked like a huge mountain of black ooze was rising from it, towering over them._

_Then an eye popped out of the ooze and it opened its mouth, roaring with an inhuman scream._

"_Run!" ordered Ordal trying to stand._

_The mountain of ooze slid forward and swallowed the walkway, covering over the men. It stopped when was a few feet from the captain and Kamaria, who were near the end of the walkway._

_Ordal stood uneasily, then collapsed._

"_Damn it. I can hardly move" he muttered grabbing his leg. _

_Kamaria stood. "I will deal with this captain."_

"_Don't be ridiculous! That thing swallowed ten men without a breath! You don't stand a chance! Do not attack that thing! That's an order soldier!"_

_She looked back at him and smiled. In her heart she knew she would have to disobey him, and it hurt her slightly._

"_I have no doubt captain" she said happily. "My weapon has no doubt in it. Because of you."_

_Ordal paused, amazed by her statement._

_Kamaria turned and ran at the beast, her hammer raised high._

"_Captain. Thank you" she muttered even as she sprinted to this huge monster. "I never would be able to do this without you."_

_The mountain of ooze looked at her with surprise, as much as could register with only one eye, and opened its mouth._

_Swallowing her whole, it began to drift back to where it came from._

_Ordal was still staring at what had just happened. He was in brain-lock, and his muscles weren't responding to his commands._

"_Damn it" he muttered angrily. _


	8. Chapter 8

_Kamaria woke up to complete darkness. _

_She panicked and tried to move, but found that her arms were being held by some kind of bonds in an X like fashion. Her legs had the same treatment and something was also around her waist._

_She hung her head in defeat. "So this is the end."_

_She smiled weakly. "Even now, I can't help but smile. I showed the captain what I truly was like. At least I can die…knowing I did that."_

_She looked out in the dark. "Captain, wherever you are, run. Please survive captain. It would bring me comfort to know…that at least you made it out of here alive."_

_Something opened in her vision and she realized that she was in some kind of pod. The thing that bound her were sections of this black pod that appeared to be designed for this purpose. _

_The pod split in front of her head in a vertical line that went from top to bottom. With a push from somewhere, she fell from the pod._

_She hit the floor and immediately felt bound again. Now her position was even more uncomfortable, since she was practically kneeling. She raised her head and looked around._

_She was in what looked like a ruined meeting hall, with stone columns and various other touches. She was at the end of the hall, with something in front of her._

_Looking down she realized that it was a huge basin built into the floor. It was full to the brim with the black ooze, with shone and moved ever so slightly._

_Looking around, she saw that the entire hall as covered in the stuff. It fell from the ceiling, it pooled onto the floor, it dripped from the columns, it was everywhere._

"_Ah, the only female of the group" said a cold voice from behind._

_She turned and saw that someone was standing behind her. He had rotten robes that hung to his feet and wore a patchy hood._

"_Who are you?" she asked nervously._

"_I am Aardilon" answered the man. His voice sounded like he was speaking with glass in his throat. He threw off the hood and revealed his face._

_His neck was completely disintegrated, appearing rotten and withered. He wore an elegant red mask over his face that had a facial style etched into it. His hands were also rotten, meaning…_

"_Are you a lich?" asked Kamaria astonished._

"_Ah, the ancient term for undead" said Aardilon blankly. "Yes I am. I am a loyal priest to the ancient Dovah, who I await with earnest."_

"_Dragon" murmured the Redguard. She recognized the saying from a few travelers she had met._

"_I am surprised you know of the Dragon tongue. It is so extinct that only a few know of it any longer."_

_He walked forward, revealing that he did indeed have feet. _

"_This ooze is a compound I developed to assist my masters in their cause. It allows for total and complete control over whoever so much as touches it. Needless to say, it has its flaws. Your captain was able to figure out that it was fairly weak to lightning."_

"_Ordal" muttered Kamaria, reminded of her captain. _

"_A flaw I will address to my system, but your captain has disappeared from my sight."_

_She smiled. He had left, and so he had survived. That thought comforted her, even though she knew that her death was imminent._

_The priest unveiled a dagger from under the folds in his robe. "Unfortunately for you, this compound requires fresh blood from an untainted victim to grow in size. I haven't tainted you with it for that reason."_

_He put the knife to her throat. "Would you like a few moments to pray to a deity of your choosing?"_

"_No" she answered smiling softly. "I'm already at peace."_

"_As you wish" said Aardilon. Then he stopped and looked up._

_Kamaria looked with him and gasped._

_Captain Ordal of the fifth battalion walked inside the room, his sword glistening with lightning. He had a slightly angry look to his eyes, but he mostly looked determined. His grim resolve was reflected in his stance, showing he had no fear._

"_Run Captain!" yelled the Redguard. "He's too strong! Save yourself!"_

"_Shut up Kamaria" he ordered sternly. "It's hard enough for me to walk in my current state."_

_Only then did she remember. He was exhausted from his fight before. It was surprising he had lasted as long as he had._

"_You are an annoying mortal" muttered Aardilon. "How did you disappear from my sight?"_

_Ordal said nothing and began walking forward._

"_Hmm. Silence. I do not appreciate that."_

_Black ooze began to swarm around the captain, forming a similar shell like Kamaria's._

"_Captain no!" yelled the Redguard. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to survive. Now he was going to die too._

"_Did you honestly think you could fight me so openly? My powers are of the darkness" said Aardilon blankly. "You said it yourself. All things are afraid of the dark. For that reason my power is absolute."_

"_I do not fear the darkness" said Ordal a moment before the shell enclosed him._

_Then it exploded violently, sending chunks flying through the air._

"_For it was in darkness, that I cast my soul" finished the captain walking forward. But something seemed different. His shirt was torn off, but revealed that he had black lines running all over his chest. _

_Ordal rubbed the tattoo affectionately. "How odd. It appears Lord Hircine has added yet another mark to my body."_

_Aardilon stopped, utterly stunned. "Lord…Hircine? The Daedric Lord of the Hunt?"_

"_Correct. He blessed me at a young age with superior ways to hunt. I am the ultimate hunter among mankind for a reason. The longer I use this, the more abilities I shall receive in the end."_

_He put a hand to his temples. "Allow me to show you."_

_Suddenly horns burst from around his crown, circling completely across his skull. They looked to be short simple horns that were razor sharp chunks of bone._

_He lowered his hand. "Sadly, I must cast my soul to Lord Hircine the more I use it. Eventually I will have to fully embrace him and lose everything I have already obtained. That is how I will die, in his embrace."_

_He glared at the undead. "But that day is certainly not today. I came here to rescue my men and kill whoever murdered them."_

"_The only one left alive is her" said Aardilon. "All the others are now part of the ooze. They act as fuel for it, making it stronger."_

"_Savage" spat Ordal. _

"_Daedric lap dog" snapped the priest._

_The captain narrowed his eyes. "I grow tired of you. If I only rescue her, that will be enough for me."_

_Aardilon laughed. "That's rather difficult if she's dead, isn't it?"_

_He raised the dagger and aimed at Kamaria. "So die!"_

_An arc of lightning shot through his arm and cut it cleanly off, causing him to drop the dagger._

_The undead stared at his severed arm, Ordal right behind him._

"_You're slow" muttered the captain. "So slow."_

_Aardilon snarled and whirled, his other hand covered in pure black ooze. "Do not..!"_

_Ordal stabbed him in the chest and stared at him. Even with this position his eyes were cold, as if he felt nothing for the man._

"_Embrace your own fears" he said throwing him into the basin of ooze._

_Aardilon screamed and sank into it, struggling to get up. Even then it began to morph into him, filling his bones and staining his robe. Then he disappeared, now a part of his own creation._

"_Its hunger extended even to its master" murmured Ordal. "What a vile creation."_

_He turned to look at Kamaria, who stared at him, astonished. She was not sure how to react, but she knew that she was afraid of him._

_Ordal looked away from her, a small frown on his face. "I understand. I am not what I normally look like."_

_He glanced back at her. "Do you hate me for who I am?"_

_She looked away, but shook her head. "I don't hate you captain. You saved my life."_

_Then she collapsed, something in her mind just giving up._

_Ordal knelt down to her and picked her up in his arms._

"_Kamaria…thank you" he said gently. "You're the only person to not be afraid of me when I reveal who I really am. That makes me feel…relieved."_


	9. Chapter 9

Gust sat at the campfire, his mask still in place. He had recently eaten and was listening intently to her story.

"So what happened after he revealed his form?" he asked curiously.

"I blacked out" answered Kamaria slightly embarrassed. She had felt like baggage back then, and that feeling hadn't left her memories.

"I heard that. What happened after?"

"Well, Ordal carried me out of the cavern and led us back to Ulfric's army. When he got there, he collapsed too."

"Hmm. So he survived."

"Yeah. When he woke up, Ulfric promoted him to colonel for 'exceptional courage and valor in times of extreme peril'."

"That's a lot of fancy words for Ulfric Stormcloak" pointed out the masked Dragonborn.

"Well it was more along the lines of, 'Damn good job boy! You're promoted to colonel!'" replicated Kamaria in her best Nordic accent.

They both laughed and Gust adjusted his cloak.

"Were you still under Ordal's command after this?"

She smiled and a small blush entered her face.

"Yes. I was."

* * *

"_Colonel Ordal, what is the progress of the second division?" asked Ulfric Stormcloak resting in his battlefield chair._

"_All 750 men are ready. I am grateful we dumped Vingalmo off a while ago as well by the way. He was an idiot."_

"_Agreed. Now, captains, report!"_

_The five new captains stepped forward._

"_Captain Palvak of the first battalion, reporting in!"_

"_Captain Ollrod of the second battalion, reporting in!"_

"_Captain Balathar of the third battalion, reporting in!"_

"_Captain Skjor of the fourth battalion, reporting in!"_

"_Captain Kamaria of the fifth battalion, reporting in!"_

_Ulfric smiled at the newest addition to the roster, the only female captain. "Are you enjoying your post Kamaria?"_

_She straightened and nodded. "Yes sir!"_

_Skjor glanced at her and smirked. "No need to shout. We're all in the same tent."_

_She scowled at him and Ordal cleared his throat._

"_Enough you two. You can get back to bickering later" said the colonel adjusting his white cloak. Besides a strip added to his armor and a small golden band running across his neck, nothing had changed about his appearance. _

_Ollrod stood in the midst, holding his unique weapon. It was made of Dwemer metal and had two ends, one with a huge sphere and the other with a double axe head. It stretched to nearly seven feet long and he had to carry it in one hand at least._

"_Where are we going commander?" he asked bluntly. "My battalion is thirsty for Breton blood."_

"_As is mine" added Skjor. "We're the only real combat battalions in this place."_

"_Speak for yourself" said Palvak annoyed. He was a Dunmer male, which was odd to see in a Stormcloak army. Needless to say, he looked tough. He wore a set of black chain mail that wound completely over his body and a large steel helmet. On his back was a huge round object that looked like a shield. Upon closer inspection, it actually had sharpened edges and a handle that stretched two feet off it. The closest thing that it could be compared to would be a paddle._

"_Ah, is the Dark Elf getting itchy?" asked Ollrod cheekily. "I don't even see why we have him here."_

"_Even an Elf can have the heart of a Nord" explained Skjor. "He fights ferociously fellow captain. Never forget that."_

_The Dunmer nodded. "My little girl here gets thirsty sometimes. I have to give her a good pint or two so she'll shut up."_

_Ulfric groaned. "If you idiots could stop mocking one another and focus, that would be great."_

_The captain of the third battalion, Balathar bowed slightly. He was an Imperial in his late forties, but most of his features were covered in bandages. He wore a long scarf over his neck that was tan in color and clipped to the back of his belt. On his back was a huge crossbow, nearly two feet wide and four feet long. He had a large kukri on his waist and a pouch of bolts on his chest._

"_Please continue Commander" he said honorably._

"_Ah, the assassin speaks" said Ulfric smiling. "I'm touched."_

_He cleared his throat and looked over the map. "Our progress of clearing the Reach is very close to being finished. However, there is one place we have so far been unable to attack."_

_He pointed to the southwest corner of Skyrim on the map. "Markarth. Its walls are huge and it's made of pure stone. We might as well be throwing sticks at them whenever we try to attack it. The very gate is composed of metal for Talos's sake. I don't think we can breach it."_

"_It is possible" said Ordal. He brought up a second map, the one of the city's blueprints._

"_The city has a river running through it. If we can get a troop of men underwater with Waterbreathing spells, we can perhaps start a stealth invasion. When they reach the gate, they open it for the rest of the army."_

_Skjor scoffed. "I don't have any magic users."_

"_Same here" muttered Ollrod mildly aggravated._

"_I got magic users, but not stealth guys" said Palvak._

"_Stealth but no magic" answered Balathar._

"_I have magic but no stealth" replied Kamaria._

_Ordal nodded. "That being the case, I want the first, third and fifth battalion leading the stealth insertion. Battalions 2 and 4, you're joining up with the First Division and joining the primary assault. Any questions?"_

"_Just one. How are we going to be able sneak in 350 guys in without them noticing?" asked Balathar._

_The colonel gave a small smile. "Use your imagination."_

* * *

"_How idiotic" muttered Balathar adjusting his bandages. "350 men in a stealth attack? That's like crushing a fly with a boulder."_

"_It is highly unlikely standard tactics will work" said Palvak rubbing the paddle on his back. "We are going to have to think of something."_

_Kamaria nodded. It was going to be rather difficult to think of a strategy._

_The three captains sat at a small table and poured over the plans of the city._

"_The river is a good idea" said the Imperial. "But we can only fit about thirty men before it gets too obvious."_

"_Markarth is a busy city right?" asked Kamaria._

"_Yeah" replied Palvak. "Big bustling place. Plenty of people go in and out of there, especially since the Reachmen took over."_

"_I don't think sneaking our guys in carts will be a good idea" she murmured cheekily. "I was thinking about it though."_

"_So was I" said Balathar. "But unless there are about 300 carts coming in, we can't hope to do anything even close to productive."_

_Palvak stared at the maps for a few moments, then stopped. "What if we just walked in?"_

_They looked at him confused. "What?"_

"_Think about it. They don't know what we all look like. Take off the armor and we're just people. Come to think of it, we have a few racial differences in our battalions. They'd never guess we were members of Ulfric's army."_

_Kamaria nodded. "We have the fewest Nords in all of our battalions. Palvak, some of you men are Elves, while Balathar has some Imperials. I personally have some Redguard and even some of the beast races."_

_Balathar chuckled through the bandages. "No wonder Ulfric doesn't like us."_

"_He's a good man" objected Palvak. "Racism will always be a problem, and at least he lets us join him. Not to mention he is not sexist at all. If a man discriminates against his neighbor, then he makes up for it by giving the same respect to his neighbor's wife."_

"_That was fairly nice way to view racism" pointed out Kamaria._

"_Hey, I don't worship Ulfric. I just appreciate him giving me the opportunity to fight for something."_

_Balathar nodded. "As do I. But to more important matters."_

_They stopped when they heard Skjor approaching them. He snickered at the three, sharpening his long sword._

"_How's it going? Having trouble?"_

"_None of your concern" snapped Palvak. _

"_Whoa, nasty. Dark Elf is getting ruder. I was just asking."_

"_You said it mockingly. I don't tolerate smartassness."_

"_I'm not sure that's a word" said the Nord grinning._

"_How about I kill you?" proposed the Dunmer resting his hand on the paddle._

_Skjor laughed. "No thank you. What I want to do is fight you."_

_He pointed to Kamaria. "What do you say? We're both captains now. I want to see if your position is so well earned."_

"_You question the will of Commander Ulfric?" she asked slyly._

_He frowned. "Perhaps. But if why are you afraid of fighting me?"_

"_I never said I refuse" stated Kamaria. "Let's go."_

_He snickered. "Excited aren't we? I like the enthusiasm."_


	10. Chapter 10

_Kamaria stood about ten feet from Skjor, her warhammer resting comfortably in her hands. While she hadn't learned some special game-winning move or anything, she had confidence. And that alone would get her through._

_A small ring had been set up around the two, many of them throwing wagers. Most of those wagers went to Skjor, who had beat her nearly ten times. It was a logical argument._

"_Ready to get your ass beat?" asked the Nord putting his sword on his shoulder._

"_If you can bring it" she replied spinning her hammer._

_Skjor scowled and rushed forward. _

_She ducked under his swing and struck him with her fist, causing him to lose his breath. She spun her hammer and smashed him in the shoulder, causing it to snap out of place._

_The Nord groaned and slashed with his sword, hitting her in the upper part of her face. She backed up and jabbed with her hammer, hitting him in the leg._

_Skjor collapsed to a knee and retaliated with a swing, hitting her in the arm. _

_Kamaria's right arm went dead, but she immediately switched to her other hand. Raising her hammer, she attempted a huge overhead slam into the Nord's head._

_Skjor rolled out of the way and snarled at her._

_The crowd stared in amazement. Normally their fights never lasted this long or were this bloody. Skjor was actually getting hurt. _

_The Nord growled and grabbed his shoulder. Snapping it back into place with a wince, he narrowed his eyes at her._

"_You got better somehow. But you're still a useless piece of shit and you always will be."_

"_Says the guy who just had to reconfigure his shoulder" snapped Kamaria cynically._

_He snarled. "Bitch."_

_He lunged forward and just missed her. Spinning on his good leg, he backhanded her across the face and began marching to her, as if his anger had leaked into his steps._

_Kamaria swung her hammer and smashed him directly in the ribs, earning a crack. This didn't even slow him down and he grabbed her by the hair._

_The crowd winced and booed. Hair-pulling was a definite no-no in fair fights. _

_Skjor didn't care. He pulled her by her braids and threw her, causing her to stumble off balance. Then he swung._

_Cleaving into her shoulder, he sliced through her armor and hit skin._

_She gasped and he began swinging like mad, hitting various points on her ribs and stomach. It was like he was letting all of his anger out in one wild dance._

"_Why…don't...you…fucking…die…bitch?!" he yelled, each word accented with a swing. _

_He put both hands on his sword and roared, spinning his body in a deadly arc._

_The sword split into her forehead and caused blood to gush into her vision, leaving her blind. She stumbled backwards and collapsed, her body shutting into unconsciousness._

_Skjor stood over her, his face red and his body slick with sweat. He grunted and grinned maliciously._

"_That's what you get for standing up to me bitch" he snarled. "You fuck with the wolf, you get the teeth"_

_He heard someone enter the fighting ring and saw that Colonel Ordal was standing near him. Despite his emotionless face and relaxed body language, the colonel had this aura of anger to him._

"_You beat her up pretty bad" commented the colonel blankly._

_Skjor smirked. "Yeah, I did. Apologies colonel. I went a little too far."_

"_You knocked her unconscious" said Ordal in the same voice as before._

"_Yeah…I did."_

_The captain of the fourth division grinned. "What ya gonna do about it?"_

_Suddenly he felt a cold wind brush past his face. He turned and saw that Ordal was now standing behind him, looking rather stoic in the small breeze._

"_You disgust me" said the colonel blankly._

_Then Skjor felt the cut._

_He collapsed as side split open, hitting to what he felt like the bones. He coughed blood and sank to the ground, completely out._

"_Because of the incoming battle, I gave you a minor wound" explained Ordal. He didn't even have his sword drawn, but yet he had somehow cut him. "It should heal with a basic spell. Thankfully the injuries you inflicted to Captain Kamaria are of similar caliber, or I would have had you executed."_

_He knelt down to the unconscious Redguard and gently picked her up. She naturally curled into his embrace, but he didn't react._

"_You should be grateful I am so merciful" he said glancing at Skjor's bleeding body. "I normally am very violent to those who injure the people I care about."_

* * *

Kamaria looked over at Markarth in the present day. She remembered sitting on this hill before, but back then she was planning tactics. Now the city was back in control of Skyrim and had tons of people going through it.

"Amazing how quickly people forgot about the battle" she muttered kicking a stone. "I remember it fluently, but it doesn't matter does it? People move on."

"Correct" stated Gust sitting on the hill, eyeing the city. "I am astonished how people can adapt the way they do. Even I can barely comprehend it. People like us, those who have trouble moving on, I guess we're the minorities."

The Redguard sat beside him. "You still haven't told me much about you Gust. What is it that has made you the way you are? Why do you speak as if you're hundreds of years old? And why do you wear that mask?"

He sighed. "I talk like this because I have experience. The second question…well…"

He adjusted the mask. "I carry it in memory."

"Was it a loved one's mask?" she inquired logically.

"No. It's my own."

Gust's fingers gripped the mask so hard they began to turn white. "The mask is white for a reason. It was stained with ash. Ashes of those things that I cared about. That's why I wear the mask."

She nodded, silently taking it in. It sounded so depressing to her, but she was used to saddening things as well. They could understand each other than, bound with sadness.

"I'm grateful you're here" she said honestly. "Most people would break down in tears hearing my life story, but you're like a stone wall. You just absorb it and offer support. I appreciate it."

"I will not lie, I am glad you are here as well" he stated looking into the murky sky. "I feel as if I understand you more than any other Dragonborn. We are similar, you and I. It was fate that brought us together."

"How do you do it?" she asked looking at him curiously. "How do you keep moving on? I mean, you say that your mask is stained white from the ashes of those things you care about, then that's a lot of things you've lost. How have you survived?"

He shrugged. "I just…do."

She nodded. "At least you answered my question."

They sat in silence for a while, soaking in the cold.

**Please review. That's all really.**


	11. Chapter 11

_Kaminari adjusted her shirt, noting how odd it felt. Since she usually wore armor, having civilian attire was a change she hadn't gotten used to. Though technically, she was still a warrior._

_Behind her were the Redguard members of her battalion, all of them dressed in various outfits typical of their race. In the middle of the group was a huge carriage, which was holding their weapons and such. They were one of the many carts that would appear in that week, since it had been decided to slowly put the troops inside. They weren't going anywhere, and the army had plenty of time to prepare._

_Meanwhile, the stealth divisions had to sweat and wait an entire tense five days until the main guys showed up. It was risky, but not as risky as charging people dead into there. _

_Her group reached the gate and the guards stopped her. Even though they were Breton and supposed to be savage, they wore uniforms and spoke proper grammar._

"_Who are you?" asked one of them drawing his sword._

_She smiled softly. "Men and women from Hammerfell. We come to trade with the honorable people of the Reach."_

_The guard glanced at her curiously, hoping to all the gods that her smile was working. Otherwise, she was probably going to get a sword in the gut._

"_We've had a lot more caravans coming through" murmured one of the guards. He shrugged. "Well, maybe the world's accepting us as a real nation. That'd be nice."_

_He tapped the gate three times and it began to open. "Go on in. We got some places set up for your group. Sorry, but you'll be sleeping outside. We're running out of room."_

_Kaminari nodded calmly, but inside she was panting relief._

"_That actually worked" whispered one of her men._

"_What did he say?" inquired one of the guards._

_She quickly recovered. "Oh, he just thought that the gate would have to be pushed open. The fact that it opened automatically amazes him."_

"_Oh. Okay than. Have a nice day."_

_They walked further in and she smacked the offending soldier in the head._

"_Sorry about that" he murmured sulking._

"_You better. You should know that these people are sensitive."_

_They reached a small area and found that there was indeed a space set up for their carriage. It looked like some of the other ones had arrived as well, and they were selling goods to the people. Part of the disguise was actually acting like merchants, which involved goods that made logical sense to each race. The Argonians were selling fine jewelry, the Khajiit were selling damn well anything they pleased, and her group would be selling various pottery and ornamental items._

_They propped up the cart and one of her lieutenants flashed a quick salute. He was a Khajiit with orange fur, a common shade in Skyrim, and was noted as one of the quickest men there. He was also one of the youngest, although Khajiits aged differently than most, much like real cats. As they got older, they aged a lot slower, expanding their lifespan. _

"_How is business Rei'kar?" she asked curiously._

"_Very well ma'am" he said casually. They could justify the fact she knew his name since all Khajiit used their name when they spoke, an odd first-person fetish they seemed to have. Among other fetishes of course._

"_I assume you got the letter I sent you?" inquired Kaminari hoping he caught the hint._

"_Of course. Rei'kar would never disappoint a pretty merchant such as yourself. He always obtains what he needs, when he needs" he replied in exact passcode._

_She nodded. "Very good."_

_He leaned forward and put his lips to her ear. Disguising his action, he pretended to stroke the side of her face. Secretly, he began whispering._

"_This damn third-person thing is hard to manage. I always hated it since it seemed like arrogant shit."_

"_Don't worry" she whispered back. "Only a few more days."_

_They separated and she smacked him, yet again disguising their true intentions. _

_He grinned cheekily. "Rei'kar enjoyed that slap."_

"_I had no doubt, you stupid walking carpet."_

_She gave him a wink and he returned it, albeit far more proactively. For some reason, he had the charisma of the most arrogant Imperial, but disguised this with his cute smile and sly comments. He truly was the best example of a cat._

"_How are your wares?" inquired a man walking to her cart. He was an older male Imperial, who wore simple purple robes and a gold circlet. He practically radiated noble, but something about his scarred face seemed off._

_She smiled. Balathar was right on time, as usual._

"_Of excellent quality!" she replied in a typical bubbly merchant voice. "We have the finest craftsmanship of any supplier!"_

"_Indeed" he replied._

_He began examining a pot, putting a level of examination into it even she didn't know he possessed. Even though he was a professional assassin, he always had an aura of peacefulness that usually didn't leave him. This reminded her just how good he was at his job._

_He was there for a very simple reason: The Breton believed he was an Imperial inspector. He had managed to convince them that the Empire was willing to make them a country and all he had to do was inspect their city. They completely believed it, especially when he showed them a royal seal. That was no fake seal though. It was the real deal. Not too hard to come by really, but they didn't know that. _

"_I have no money, but I can give you a letter of credit" he said reaching into his robe._

"_Anything is fine valued customer" she answered._

_He pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. Grabbing the pot, he walked off sternly._

_She opened the envelope and noted that there was indeed a letter of credit inside. Basically it was a check that you cashed into an Imperial bank. This one however, was writing in code._

_Looking at the side, she noted how the letters always lined up to the same edge every time, which was abnormal since there was no difference in space. Picking up the last letter of each line, she read the message._

"_Found Leader Getting Into Range"_

_It was a simple code really. Balathar was obviously integrating himself into the Reach's higher levels and was approaching their leader. His mission, above all, was to incapacitate him to make defense impossible. He by far had the hardest task._

"_Good luck" she muttered sliding the letter into her pocket. "We're all counting on you."_


	12. Chapter 12

_A few days passed and the deadline for the attack loomed near. Kaminari felt her blood pressure go up with every day, until eventually she felt like she was going to explode. She nearly burst an artery when someone caught a glimpse of her warhammer in the cart, but it was only a small boy and he could care less about them anyway._

"_It is gonna happen" murmured Rei'kar._

_She nodded. "Yep."_

_She looked up. "Rain's coming."_

_Indeed it was. The sky was already full of clouds and they were slowly turning grey even as they spoke._

"_What a backdrop" muttered the Khajiit lieutenant. "I can hardly wait."_

"_Same."_

_The attack was in an hour, exactly as dusk. At that time Balathar would incapacitate the Reach's leader and the main force would go in. During this, the stealth force would sabotage the gates and the guards' defenses. With all three going on, it would be nearly impossible for them to accumulate a suitable defense._

"_After this, I'm retiring" muttered Rei'kar._

_She glanced at him. "Really?"_

"_Yeah. While I appreciate the opportunity, I am no soldier. I'm a thief, through and through."_

_He looked at his paws. "Even now, my hands ache to be in someone's pockets or safe. I can't stop it. I love stealing stuff."_

"_You're supporting a negative stereotype" murmured Kaminari. _

"_Screw negative stereotypes. They apply to me."_

_They chuckled, than went off their separate ways to prepare for battle. War was coming, and they had to be ready._

_Kaminari calmly slid her armor underneath her robe, noting how easily the flowing material hid it. Being a Redguard had perks after all. She could wear armor and still have her disguise. _

"_What is that?!" yelled one of the guards on the wall._

_That was the signal. The main force was setting a huge fire in the distance to give them the opportunity to move in._

_Her Redguard patrol sprinted onto the wall, moving incredibly fast. They moved as one unit, having trained endlessly to do so. _

_They reached the top of the wall and drew their blades simultaneously, flashing weapons. It looked like a moving field of metal running across the top._

_A guard turned around and Kaminari smashed him in the face with her hammer. Spinning, she slid into a split and swung her weapon in a circle, taking out various knee caps in the way. _

_Someone leaped into the empty space in front of her and slashed at the guards. He didn't even touch the ground until everyone around him had died._

"_Happy to be fighting" said Rei'kar grinning. He held a long sabre with a dagger in his other hand._

_She smiled and the rest of the Khajiits appeared, having leaped from building to building onto the wall. _

"_It's a set up!" roared one of the guards. "Get them!"_

_Rei'kar threw a smoke bomb and dashed into the smoke, slashing without a missed step. He moved like a shadow, practically dancing through the guards._

_Kaminari reached the first gate control and noted its set up. It appeared to be a simple system of pulling a lever and letting the gate open. Since she really didn't understand it, she decided to just pull it one way._

_The gate began to open and she smiled. Perfection._

_Her feline lieutenant reached the second control and pulled it as well. This time the gate fully began to open, moving incredibly fast for a mechanical device._

_When that was finished, she pried off the level with a huge tug and jammed it into the gears._

"_Try to close that" she muttered dusting off her hands._

_She turned and saw that the rest of her patrol ere fighting off the various guards who had come from inside the city. Obviously there sabotage had been noted._

"_Holy shit!" roared one of the guards looking out into the distance. "Who the fuck are those guys?!"_

_Kaminari looked out and saw that the rest of the divisions were out there, sprinting at Markarth with all their might. They obviously had no intention of giving the Bretons time to prepare for death._

"_Back up" muttered the Redguard captain._

_Suddenly she was smashed in the face with a sword hilt and sent to the floor._

_A rather vicious Breton leaped on her and snarled at her, foaming at the mouth. He appeared to have gone mildly crazy from rage._

"_Bitch!" he roared. "You shall suffer!"_

_Something sank into his head and he stopped dead, twitching slightly. Blood trickled from a wound in the side of his skull, dripping onto the stones._

"_Boring" muttered Ordal kicking the man off his sword. Waving the blood off it, he looked at Kaminari._

"_Very impressive work" he stated in his usual blank attitude. He wore his white attire, but now had black war paint covering his mouth. It was a nice contrast of his pale skin and made him look like a demon, despite the fact he only gave a frown._

_She smiled at him. "Just in the nick of time, my hero."_

_He nodded and raised his sword. It slowly covered itself in lightning and he narrowed his eyes, looking at the city before him._

"_Let us conquer" he said extending an arm to help her up._

_She grasped his hand and he hoisted her up, the same expression on his face. _

_Kaminari gave a small grin, than leaned in and kissed him on the cheek._

_He paused, an uncharacteristic shock going onto his face. "Why did you..?"_

"_Thanks for saving me" she said giving a genuine smile. "That's what the princess does when she gets saved by the prince."_

_Ordal looked at her curiously. "I do not understand."_

_She smirked. "I'll tell you later."_

_He nodded and looked back at the city. "Come than. We have our orders. Destroy any resistance. Spare anyone who surrenders. No more, no less."_

_He gripped his sword and the lightning arced more intensely. "Let us breed war."_

_Then he leaped off the wall, his scarf and cloak trailing behind him._

**To those who don't know: Ordal is a character from one of the previous Dragonborn stories, the Hound. I don't want to spoil what happens to him here, but there is a reason this is a flashback. I liked him so much that I wanted to expand his story a little more. Leave a review on what you think about this story or whatever came to mind. I always love reading reviews on my stuff.**


	13. Chapter 13

_Ordal sprinted through the street, dodging and evading various swords aimed at him. While the average foot soldier, all the way up to division captains, had their orders, he had his own. He was to assist in the suppression of the Reach's leader Madanach. While the expert assassin Balathar was already on it, he was certain he would require aid. These Reachmen were incredibly talented warriors, especially the higher-ranking people._

_The Imperial leaped over a cart and spun, deflecting the arrows aimed at him. He moved like a white wind, blowing past any who stood before him, leaving only a sword strike in his wake. His speed was a factor very few considered, since even he had trouble controlling it. _

_He reached the city hall and saw that the gate was still very well locked. In front of it was a makeshift barricade with a dozen guards. _

_He raised his right arm and a small ball of lightning charged at his finger tip._

"_Lightning Bomb" he murmured firing._

_The small bomb flew at the barricade and exploded, sending shrapnel and magicka flying through the air. Needless to say, the door was completely gone._

_The colonel nodded, then he saw something shift through the fog. It looked like some kind of blade…_

_He blocked and the blade stopped at his throat, only missing his neck by an inch. He grunted in surprise. Only a few were fast enough to catch him off guard._

_He threw his attacker away and went into a defensive stance. Then he verbally gasped._

_His opponent stood up, his frame already cut up. It looked like he had been cut by a thousand blades all across his chest, but it was hard to tell since he wore a grey robe. He was definitely a Breton, but his skin was slightly paler than normal. His hair, which was as white as snow, draped past his waist and tied with a braid at the very end. Around his neck was a necklace with a bull as the medallion. His eyes were a deep yellow, which was very odd._

_The blade he carried wasn't a sword or axe. It was a scythe, nearly six feet long with a huge curved blade. The inside of the blade was sharp, while the outside was serrated. It looked like a saw on a stick, albeit at ridiculous proportions._

"_Who are you?" demanded Ordal._

"_I could ask you that question myself" stated the Breton. He grinned. "But I hate being rude to my prey. My name is Jawil."_

"_Why are your eyes yellow?"_

"_That's an even odder question" murmured Jawil. "Obviously you've never seen a Volkihar vampire if you asked that kind of question."_

"_Vampire?" repeated the colonel. "Why are you allied with the Reachmen?"_

"_Simple really. They let me eat the bodies I kill."_

_Jawil grinned madly. "Which is about to include you."_

_He then stopped and clutched the necklace at his throat. He began murmuring some words to it, like he was in prayer._

"_Are you..?"_

"_Shut the fuck up!" roared the vampire. "It's a bother, but I have to pray to Molag Bal for a good kill."_

_He finished his prayer and gripped his scythe._

"_Here I go!" he taunted sprinting at him._

_Ordal deflected the swing, but Jawil kept moving forward. He spun like a leaf in the wind, constantly adjusting the way he moved and stepped. He practically danced as he walked, leaping multiple times but still having the same target. It was incredible to just try and predict where he was going._

_The colonel leaped back and the vampire lunged forward. Slicing him with the outside of the blade, he sawed through the armor he wore and hit his sternum._

_The Imperial gasped in pain and smashed him back. _

_Jawil landed and licked the edge of his blade, which was dripping with blood._

"_Oh gods your blood tastes so good" murmured the Breton. "Give me more!"_

_Ordal grunted and swung his sword, raising an arc of lightning as well. It cut into his opponent's chest, but it did little to nothing. If anything, it made him go faster._

"_The pain is amazing!" roared Jawil. "Hit me again!"_

_The Imperial narrowed his eyes and smashed his sword into the concrete. Concentrating his lightning into both of his hands, he grabbed the vampire by the sides of his head._

"_Do you like pain?" asked the colonel coldly. _

_The bolts of electricity in his hands connected, punching clean through Jawil's head._

"_Then have more!" roared Ordal dropping his calm composure. He began pumping all of his magicka into the technique just to completely fry the asshole he had caught. _

_The vampire jittered like a puppet on strings, jerking his arms and legs uncontrollably. He then collapsed, his head smoking. Oddly enough, he didn't lose any hair. _

"_Finally" muttered the colonel. "I hate people like that."_

_He began walking away, until he heard something behind him. He turned and stared at the vampire's body._

"_Is he still alive?" he murmured amazed._

_Then he was able to make out what the noise was. It was panting mixed with laughing._

"_That…felt…so…good" said Jawil looking up. He sat up and kept breathing deeply. It wasn't like he was panting from just having been electrocuted. He looked happy actually. _

"_Gods that was the most ecstasy I've felt in so long" stated the vampire grinning. "You have no idea how utterly amazing that pain felt. I might have to change my pants actually."_

_Ordal stared at him completely awestruck. He had practically rammed a lightning bolt through his head and he reacted like that? What kind of sick guy was he?_

"_Well, I can't just let you walk away without me giving you some delicious pain" spat Jawil standing up uneasily. "Man, you really fried my nerves. But I think I can still fight you. Oh right, I'm still breathing. Of course I can fight you!"_

_He leaped forward, his scythe actually escaping his hands. As it went, a thread connected it to his wrist, constantly extending and letting the blade move freely._

_Ordal dodged the blade, but it ricocheted uncontrollably and hit him in the leg. He grunted and spun, landing in a heap on the ground. He looked up and saw that it was coming down on him, somehow being controlled by only a simple cable._

"_Alteration" he murmured rolling out of the way. The blade missed him by maybe a centimeter and he kicked it, disrupting the magicka slightly._

_Jawil swore and retracted the blade back. Gripping it smoothly, he ran forward at his opponent again._

_The colonel blocked his strike and punched him in the gut with a fist full of lightning. Blood exploded from the vampire's mouth, but he quickly grinned after._

"_Yes!" roared Jawil swinging his scythe again. "Hit me again!"_

_Ordal narrowed his eyes and kept punching him, hitting various organs in his chest. _

_Then he leaped up and spin-kicked him, sending the vampire to the ground. _

_Jawil landed with his head and grunted. Then he reached out and grabbed Ordal by the ankle, catching him off guard._

"_Snap" he said breaking the colonel's ankle with a simple twist of his hand._

_The Imperial swore in pain and collapsed to the ground. But even then Jawil kept twisting the broken limb, almost making it go all the way back into place again._

"_Come on. Start screaming in pain" taunted the vampire. "Or better yet, start crying. That'd be awesome. Just do something instead of just gritting your fucking teeth!"_

_He reached out and shattered the kneecap of the same leg. Ordal collapsed completely and began panting from the pain. _

"_Oh gods you make such hot noises when I tear you apart" muttered Jawil standing up. He raised his scythe. "Let's see what other kinds you can make when I cut you into pieces!"_

_Then he stopped because the Imperial was aiming his right index finger at him._

"_Lightning Bomb" grunted Ordal firing._

_The ball of lightning smashed into his chest and erupted into him, cleaving through the rib cage. The vampire was sent flying into a stone column, punching a hole in it. _

_Jawil collapsed to the floor, breathing faintly. He no longer had his scythe, and he definitely looked defeated._

"_You are an absolute animal" murmured the colonel disgusted. "Such a thing, to enjoy pain, even if it was your own. I would say that it would be admirable, if it wasn't so grotesque. I am not sorry I killed you, Volkihar vampire."_

_Then he heard what sounded like laughter coming from the body. His eyes widened. "No way…"_

"_Way" taunted Jawil grabbing his scythe and swinging it._

_The blade cut into Ordal's other leg, hitting clear to the bone. He yelled in pain and clutched at his bloody limb, panting deeply._

"_Come on, you were talking all sorts of good shit a second ago!" roared Jawil standing over him. "Then I fucked your legs up!"_

"_You…bastard…" murmured Ordal._

"_What's wrong colonel? Just heal your legs! Shoot some more lightning!"_

"_Such a pitiful thing" spat the colonel. "Do you ask for death because you hate life?"_

"_I hate my life, of course! I despise breathing every day and I want to be rid of it!"_

"_Do you want me to kill you?"_

_Jawil grinned and began laughing madly. "Yes, yes!"_

_He grasped the front of his robe and tore it open, revealing that he did indeed already have dozens of cuts in his frame. He began panting deeply. _

"_Bleed me, wound me, cut me, kill me!" shouted the vampire. "Do everything to me! This body is just a thing I can play with until I die! It doesn't even matter if I die! I only live to spread agony and fear for my Lord Molag Bal! I gain his love by slaughtering all I come by! If all these people exist solely to magnify that love, than there is no greater universe than this! So go on! There's some room near my left kidney! Or maybe my throat?! There are so many options!"_

_Ordal stood uneasily, his leg having been patched by a healing spell he activated a while ago. He raised his sword._

"_An animal who wishes to die so eagerly" he murmured looking at his opponent. "I would pity you, but I don't waste my pity on beings who don't want it. If you wish to die so much, I will gladly give it to you. I will end your life with one swing."_

_Jawil grinned. "Go on then. Hit me with your best shot!"_

_They charged at each other, preparing their best attacks._

_Ordal sliced into the vampire's chest and punched him away. Raising his sword, he charged up a huge lightning blade on top of it._

_Jawil sawed through his opponent's stomach, than grinned at him. Leaping upwards, he raised his scythe and gripped it with both hands. _

"_Now swing at me, MY OPPONENT!" roared the vampire swinging in a huge overhead slice._

_Ordal swung, contacting the scythe of his opponent. The lightning in his sword exploded, releasing a huge wave of electricity. Then it deflected and kept going, hitting the vampire in the throat._

_Jawil's neck split horizontally in a slice that went almost halfway through. He gasped as blood flew from the wound, but his smile never faded._

"_The pain…" he murmured closing his eyes. "Thank you…"_

_He collapsed and Ordal flicked the blood off his sword. "Even I know a vampire as powerful as you can regenerate."_

_He raised it. "So I will have to stab you through the head, just to make sure."_

_Then something smashed into his sword, sending it from his hands._

_He turned and stopped dead. The thing staring at him was so terrifying he couldn't even contemplate it. _

_A man walked towards him, shuffling his robe calmly. He appeared to be a middle-aged man with silver hair, moving the grace of an aristocrat. He had a small smile on his face, like he was walking in a garden. Despite this, something around him made the very air seem dark. It was as if his very aura was death._

"_That man belongs to me" stated the man adjusting his robe. He looked up and revealed his eyes. They were deep yellow, like a panther. _

_He knelt down and grabbed Jawil by the belt. Hoisting him to his shoulder, he smiled at Ordal. _

"_I apologize for any stupidity my subordinate caused. He tends to go over-the-top. I like to send him when things like this happen. Warfare was his strongest point."_

_The man chuckled. "But one of these days, he's going to get caught up in something not good for him. And I won't be able to save him. After all, I am the head of the Volkihar clan, and I am usually terribly busy."_

_He glanced at the unconscious vampire and shook his head. "Such a hassle. You're lucky I came in time to save you. But if you mess up again, I won't help you."_

_Then he disappeared into a storm of bats, flying off into the wind._

_Ordal remembered breathing and clutched at his chest. The presence of that man was overwhelming. It was like he had been breathing blood when he was around him._

"_If that is the only one though" murmured the colonel glancing at the main hall of Markarth, "I can go on without fear of them."_

_He gripped his sword from the ground and began walking forward, recovering his breath slowly. "I hope that is the last surprise this mission has."_

**Now in case you don't know, Jawil was from another Dragonborn story (you'll see A LOT of that in my Skyrim stories) the Inquisitor. He is a Vampire Lord (not exactly well hidden) and there is a definite reason this is a flashback with what happens to him. Oh, and Vingalmo from Chapter 5 was in that story too. Just saying. Try to expect that when reading these stories. **


	14. Chapter 14

_Ordal ran into the main hall of Markarth, his sword gripped tightly in his hand. He had healed himself to a good enough degree after his run-in with that odd vampire and was ready for battle._

"_I just hope there aren't others like him here" he muttered. "I'm not sure I could take another one down."_

_He reached a long hallway and noted that someone was fighting in the room ahead._

"_Hey Ordal!" yelled a certain Imperial assassin, "Come meet my new friends!"_

_The colonel rolled his eyes and sprinted forward. _

"_I thought you said you were going to do the stealthy approach" he said sliding to help his friend._

_Balathar chuckled. "Funny story. I did try that. Thing is, these guys are a lot smarter than I predicted."_

"_Idiot" spat Ordal._

"_Yeah. But at least no one's shooting at us yet."_

_Then an arrow missed his ear by a centimeter._

"_Okay, now they're shooting" muttered Balathar dodging._

_The colonel looked up at the top of the stairs and noted that a line of archers had been assembled. _

"_How many of these people are there?" he murmured charging up his long sword._

_Ordal ran up the stairs and swung, releasing an arc of lightning from his weapon. _

_The arc cut through the soldiers like butter, instantly stunning them into submission._

_He looked down and noted that Balathar was dealing with the foot soldiers. Despite only being armed with a crossbow, the assassin was incredibly good with unarmed combat._

_Balathar deflected a sword strike and retaliated with a palm strike, hitting his opponent in the chest and crushing ribs. Twirling around, he kicked a soldier clean in the face and threw a third one into another._

"_Come on Ordal!" he taunted raising his fists and popping on his feet. "You're letting me have all the fun!"_

"_I thought assassins were supposed to be stoic" muttered Ordal leaping down to help him._

"_Being stoic is boring! Having fun is ten times more important!" protested Balathar swinging at a soldier._

_The colonel rolled his eyes and grabbed a soldier. Throwing him across the room, he heard the door of the hall open again._

"_Shit" he spat turning to face what was probably more enemies. Instead, he was greeted with a familiar sight._

"_What are you doing here?" he asked slightly angry. _

"_Did you think I wouldn't come to help?" replied Kamaria running forward. She was covered in blood and small cuts, but appeared to be alright. Her warhammer was worn slightly and her armor was looser. She had obviously been in some fights._

_Ordal grunted. "If you're going to disobey an order, than at least do good when you do."_

_She nodded and joined him, slamming her back into his. _

"_So your girlfriend joined the fun eh?" inquired Balathar grappling a Breton soldier. He then proceeded to twist his neck completely around. "I gotta say Ordal, you got yourself a nice piece."_

"_She isn't my lover" stated the colonel calmly._

"_But you wish she was" replied the assassin grinning mischievously._

_Kamaria blushed slightly. "Could you just shut up?"_

"_Agreed" said Ordal._

"_Oh, you both suck" spat Balathar. "But I must obey a pretty lady's request."_

_Once the foot soldiers were all done and dealt with, they climbed the stairs._

_Seated where the Jarl normally sat in the hall was Madanach, looking completely calm and collected. He wore a simple green robe over his frame which was decorated with wild flowers. On his head was a crown made of simple oak wood with a single ruby as the jewel. He had no weapons by his side, but his very posture emitted power._

"_So you came" he said looking at his three opponents. _

"_Are you going to surrender peacefully?" asked Ordal._

"_Please say no" begged Balathar._

_Madanach grunted. "Fools. You puppets lead by the Empire and that fool Ulfric. Do you honestly think you will be rewarded for your efforts? The only thing the Empire does is betray anything they can't control, and Ulfric is a blind sheep who couldn't see treachery staring him in the face."_

"_What are you saying?" asked Kamaria._

_The Breton king chuckled. "Ulfric hopes to reclaim Markarth and allow the worship of his god Talos. While I have nothing against that and would even encourage such religious followings, the Empire cannot allow this. They are controlled by those damn Thalmor Elves, who I despise with a passion. Nothing against the Elves personally, just the bad ones. Ulfric is just handing Markarth over to the Empire, while he gets nothing."_

"_Irrelevant" said Ordal. "Are you surrendering? Yes or no?"_

"_Such drive" noted Madanach. "Such focus. Completely unfazed, even after my speech. I must say, you are definitely a dedicated soldier. If I had ten men like you, I could conquer Skyrim in a week."_

_He held out his wrists. "I do not wish to harm myself in trivial matters. Put me in your custody."_

"_Ah, come on" complained Balathar. "Can you at least pretend to fight?"_

"_Shut it" ordered the colonel pulling out a set of shackles. He slammed them onto the Breton's wrists, tightening them with a turn of his hand. "Madanach, King of the Reach, you are under arrest."_

"_I had no doubts" muttered the Breton. "Now you better hurry before the Thalmor arrive to claim their prize."_

_Ordal turned to the two captains. "Let's get moving. Hopefully the rest of the Bretons will surrender now that their leader is in custody."_

"_Don't be so certain" murmured Madanach. "Some of my men are rather unintelligent. They may still try to fight, even now."_

"_Goodie" stated Balathar drawing his crossbow. "I wasn't satisfied with my current kill count."_


	15. Chapter 15

_Ordal walked through the downed gates of Markarth, past numerous bodies of Breton soldiers. He didn't even seem fazed by it even when his shoes stepped in puddles of blood and gore. _

_Kamaria was slightly disgusted, but she had seen worse. Especially from that cave…_

_She shook the thoughts out of her head. That memory was too painful to endure again._

"_Commander" stated the colonel bowing his head. "Madanach of the Reach, in your custody."_

"_Good" replied Ulfric. He adjusted his chain mail and looked at the Breton. "Anything you want to say before we execute you?"_

_The former leader of the Reach smiled. "For every drop of blood and tears that was shed here, tenfold will be shed from here on out. Either by my men or by the Thalmor who you so blindly followed."_

"_I follow no Elf" spat the commander._

"_Then explain to me why there's an official Thalmor carriage drawing up right now?"_

_Ulfric whirled around and sure enough, there was a carriage. It was decorated with the purple and golden pattern of the Thalmor on the sides._

"_Igmund!" roared the Nord commander. "We had a deal!"_

"_Your deal would compromise too much of the Empire" stated the Jarl calmly. "What did you think? That your little kingdom here would be an exception to the ban on Talos worship? Would you fight against the Aldmeri Dominion, even after our brutal loss?"_

"_I would fight them a thousand times over just to see Talos be worshiped again" stated Ulfric. "You disgust me. How can you abandon your heritage so easily?"_

"_Our heritage cannot continue if we are executed now" said the Jarl logically. "Sometimes, you have to learn to hide to survive."_

"_You are not a Nord" snarled the commander. "You are a coward."_

"_You may say that, but if you do not surrender, you will die here today" stated Igmund. "Please my old friend. Just let it go."_

"_Let it go?! I would suffer the Great War hundred fold before I let everything I've done go!" bellowed Ulfric. "Let go of the sacrifice thousands of men and women gave to fight these Elves?! How far have they corrupted you to even propose such a thing?!"_

"_I hate to interrupt this meeting, but there is urgent business to discuss" said a Thalmor agent walking forward. "I am Ondolemar. I will be taking Madanach into official Thalmor custody."_

"_Really?" asked Ulfric dangerously. He grinned maniacally. "What makes you think you can do that?"_

"_Jarl Igmund here already gave the Aldmeri Dominion free reign over this attack" explained the Altmer slightly annoyed. "If you continue the hostilities, I will end you."_

"_Try it" stated Ordal stepping between them and putting a hand on his sword._

_The Thalmor agent stopped. "You."_

"_Yes. It's me" said the colonel calmly. _

"_You were in Solstheim. During that Werewolf hunt."_

"_Technically, I was the one hunting them" explained Ordal. "And if you are who I think you are, then you were cowering in a corner as I saved your hide."_

_The others snickered and Ondolemar snarled._

"_Don't make me cut your fucking head off" spat the Altmer._

"_I doubt you can draw your sword with all the fat on your arm" taunted the colonel. "You gained weight since I saw you. Of course you were starving when I met you and had lost an arm."_

"_Ordal, don't be foolish like your commander" pleaded Jarl Igmund._

"_Oh, I do not intend to be foolish" stated Ordal removing his hand from his sword. "I have no interest in fighting this fight. I signed up for war out of interest, not heritage. I apologize commander, but I cannot fight your battles for you."_

"_I understand" replied Ulfric. "You have no reason to sacrifice yourself colonel. Your heritage is not my heritage. Being an Imperial, your heritage is bowing down to these scum-sucking Elves."_

"_Actually, I could care less about my heritage" said the colonel smiling softly. "You see, I want the same thing you want Commander. And that's to see all these self-righteous assholes to kiss the dirt."_

_Ondolemar narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."_

"_Kamaria, are you with me?" asked Ordal calmly. "Answer quickly."_

"_I will follow you whether you may go colonel" replied the Redguard smiling._

"_Balathar, can you say the same?"_

"_Well, I wouldn't mind killing some more shit" stated the assassin grinning. _

"_I say the same" said Ulfric. "I am not walking out of here without some heads slung over my back."_

"_You treacherous bastards!" roared the Altmer agent. "You cannot possibly hope to get away! You are completely surrounded by Aldmeri troops! There's no..!"_

_Ordal sprinted forward and slashed him in the chest, instantly shutting him up. The Thalmor agent collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely from the cut._

"_Run!" yelled the colonel._

_They began sprinting away from the city, flashing weapons and such._

"_Soldiers, flee to your homes!" ordered Ulfric yelling at the top of his lungs. "This fight is not yours to fight! Your service is done to me!"_

"_Commander, we would never betray you" said Palvak joining them. Judging by his flat-ended weapon, he had been in a few battles himself. "I follow only you, as long as you can stand having an Elf at your side."_

"_For an Elf as good as you my friend, I shall make an exception" stated the Commander. _

"_I go with you as well" said Balathar._

"_What do you say Ordal?"_

_The colonel shook his head. "I apologize my Commander, but I have my own destiny. I will never forget the days in your service, but I have much of my life ahead of me."_

"_I understand" said Ulfric. "What about you Kamaria?"_

"_I'm going with Ordal."_

_Balathar chuckled. "How romantic."_

"_Shut it" ordered the Redguard. "It's not like that."_

_The Commander smiled softly. "Any idea where you two are going?"_

"_No" said Ordal simply. "But it doesn't matter."_

_They finally reached the valley and looked behind them. Sure enough, dozens of Aldmeri troops were following them._

"_Well shit" murmured Balathar. "We aren't going to make it."_

"_You can" said Madanach. He had kept up with them, despite the shackles, and still stood tall._

"_What are you talking about?" asked Ulfric._

"_Leave me. They're only concerned about making sure another Breton uprising doesn't happen" explained the Breton leader. "If they capture me, they could care less about you."_

_The Commander paused, then put a hand on his shoulder brotherly. "While you have the skin and mind of a Breton, your heart beats with a courage even many Nord don't possess. I truly admire you Reach King."_

"_Same to you, Commander Stormcloak" said Madanach. "Perhaps someday we can become allies against these Elves who plaque us."_

"_I will welcome your help."_

_The Breton king nodded, than turned and began running back._

"_He truly is an admirable man" stated Ulfric. "I only wish that over time, we really can help each other."_

"_Perhaps" said Ordal. "But we better keep running in case they still try to chase us."_


	16. Chapter 16

_Kamaria looked out into the valley behind them, seated on a small rock on top of the hill._

"_What do you think is going to happen to the others?" asked the Redguard curiously._

"_I don't know" admitted Ordal. He stood there, still wearing his white scarf and leather armor, but had lost the golden necklace. His hair was still long to his chin and rather messy. _

"_Where are we going to go?" inquired Kamaria glancing at him._

"_A place that we don't have to worry about things like war and hatred" stated the Imperial calmly. _

"_Why does that concern you?"_

_He glanced at her. "You make me feel alive Kamaria. For the first time in my life, I truly feel like I can appreciate life. And it's all because of you"_

_She smiled. "Are you saying that you like me?"_

_He turned away, but it was obvious a small blush was on his face. "I didn't say that."_

"_But you meant that."_

_Ordal cleared his throat awkwardly. "Perhaps."_

_She stood up and hugged him softly. He bristled at the contact, then smiled._

"_Thank you" he said simply._

"_Where we gonna go colonel?" she asked into his shoulder. _

"_Does it matter?" he replied looking into the valley again. "Wherever we go, we go together."_

_The two broke from the contact and began walking, not really sure where they were going to go._

_Ordal glanced at her, holding her hand softly in his own. For once, he gave a genuine smile._

* * *

Gust looked at Kamaria, sitting on the same hill the two lovers had stood on so long ago.

"How romantic" said the masked man softly. "I am happy such a thing happened to you."

"It didn't last long" murmured the Redguard.

"But the fact that it happened makes it important" replied Gust.

She sighed and remained seated on the small rock.

"I wish we could've just stayed like that" she said mournfully. "I loved being with him. While he said that I made him feel alive, I felt alive around him too. He made me feel…happy."

"He sounds like a great man" stated the masked man blankly.

She looked up at the sky. "Yeah. He was."

* * *

"_Listen, I know we've been together for a week, but you still can't watch me go to the bathroom" stated Kamaria jokingly._

_Ordal smiled softly. "That's a shame. But I respect your privacy."_

_She giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry my love. I'll be right back."_

_She walked further into the woods, doing her best to find some privacy. Even now she felt paranoid that someone was watching her. Granted she was a wanted criminal to the Aldmeri Dominion, so that was entirely possible._

_Finally finding a bush, she did her business. _

_Pulling her pants back up, she began walking back to her boyfriend._

"_So now I found you" said a voice to her left._

_She drew her hammer and leaped back, raising it in an offense position._

"_Relax sweetheart. I ain't here to hurt ya."_

_She narrowed her eyes. "Skjor."_

_The Nord grinned and walked out from behind the shrubbery. He wore a simple set of leather armor that was covered in blood and had his sword out. He looked like he had been dragged through hell and back._

"_What happened to you?" she asked looking him up and down._

"_Oh, nothing much. I just got abandoned by Ulfric and pretty much everyone I've known for the last few months and had to fight off dozens of Aldmeri all by myself" stated the Nord slightly angry. "You know, I'm just fine."_

"_I'm sorry. We were trying to escape as well."_

"_Oh I know, and I understand. You and your boyfriend wanted to go out in the wilderness, eating chestnuts and making love in the moonlight. I completely understand."_

"_Listen Skjor, I don't have any quarrel with you. I just want to get on with my life."_

"_So do I" stated the Nord. "But I just have one thing to settle with you."_

_He raised his sword. "Fight me. I want to finish this thing."_

"_Does your pride make it impossible to let it go?" asked Kamaria._

"_Come on. Are you going to refuse me?"_

_She snarled. "No. I want to settle this as well. You're going down."_

_He grinned. "Come on then. I've been waiting weeks for this."_

_They ran at each other and swung, smashing weapons against each other. _

_Skjor kicked her and slashed upwards, nearly hitting her in the chest. He skipped forward and spun, trailing his sword with him._

_Kamaria blocked and slugged him in the face, disorienting him. Re-gripping her hammer, she smashed it into his chest._

_The Nord spat blood and backhanded her, swinging his sword in the same motion. _

_The Redguard took the blow to the arm and grunted in pain. Moving forward, she slammed her shoulder into his stomach and sent him to the ground._

_Skjor hit the dirt and kicked out, sending her flying off him. Leaping to his feet, he laughed maniacally._

"_Gods, I've waited so long for this!" he yelled grinning. He glared at her but didn't lose his smile. "Gods, I can't freaking stand your eyes! They're mocking me! Constantly demanding that I prove myself to you! You prideful bitch!" _

_He ran forward. "I don't have to prove shit for you!"_

_He swung and connected their weapons._

"_I hope you don't lose this prowess you've gained" he said releasing one of his hands. He made it into a fist and laughed. "It would really suck if this fight started to get boring!"_

_He punched her, but she quickly grabbed his arm._

_Skjor paused, completely surprised by the look in her eye._

"_You think it'd suck if I start doing worse?" she asked coldly smiling. "That's funny. I was about to say the same damn thing!"_

_She grabbed him by the shirt and threw him off her. "I would really suck if you started getting worse Skjor! So bring it!"_

_The Nord narrowed his eyes and gripped his sword. "Don't talk so big, you bitch!"_

_They exchanged blows rapidly, smashing and cutting each other mercilessly. It was as if they were two enemies who had never met before, cutting all reason and sentiment. They fought with self-abandonment, both playing just to prove something to the other. _

"_You're a joke!" taunted Skjor. "A waste of breath! Why the fuck do you fight like you're something when you so obviously aren't!? I don't understand you!"_

"_I…" began Kamaria gritting her teeth. She put her foot back and raised her hammer high._

"_I've had it with you!" roared the Redguard swinging her hammer true._

_It smashed into the Nord's chin, making him fly off his feet and hit the ground. He spat blood and lay there, his entire body hurting._

"_Gods…damn you" murmured Skjor._

"_Are you done?" spat Kamaria. "I don't want to keep fighting you forever."_

_The Nord gritted his teeth. "What makes you think I'm done?"_

_He stood uneasily and gripped his sword again. He hobbled slightly, but he was still able to stand._

"_I won't lose to someone like you!" yelled Skjor running forward._

_The Redguard suddenly understood him. She knew why he was trying to prove himself. _

"_He's like me" she whispered astonished. "Our roles have been reversed. He thinks he's the underdog, and now he's trying to prove himself so that he can feel better. It's just like when I used to fight him, but now I'm in his position."_

_She smiled softly. _

_She blocked his strike and stopped, gripping the blade._

"_No Skjor" she said simply. "You're far too injured to carry on. If you want to truly defeat me, then I'll gladly fight you any time of the day. But for now, you have to heal yourself. You can't hope to win if you constantly handicap yourself. Just let it go."_

_The Nord bowed his head and gritted his teeth. He actually looked like he was considering her words. He began to cry slightly, than he gripped his sword._

"_NEVER!" he roared infuriated, tears streaming down his face. "I WILL NOT LOSE TO A BITCH LIKE YOU!"_

_A huge metal blade smashed into his head, knocking down to the bone near his eye. He gasped and fell to the ground, staring up at the sky astonished._

_She looked at who had thrown the metal blade and paused._

"_You…" she murmured amazed._

"_Yeah, it's me" said Vingalmo grinning. He flicked his wrist and the huge metal crescent returned to him, gripping it by the handle. _

_The Altmer stood tall, wearing an odd purple robe on his figure. He had his signature crescent blade on his shoulder and his blonde hair cascaded down to at least mid-back. But there was one thing odd about him. His eyes were now a radiating yellow, and his grin was notably sharper._

"_So Kamaria, would you mind stepping aside?" he asked smiling dangerously. "I have things to settle with this Nord."_


	17. Chapter 17

_Vingalmo smiled at Kamaria, his crescent blade resting comfortably on his shoulder._

"_Move aside" stated the Altmer bluntly. "That scum-stain over there is mine."_

_Skjor groaned, holding his eye. It appeared to be maimed useless at the point and bleeding profusely. _

"_Hitting me while I'm down?" asked the Nord scowling. "You always were a piece of shit."_

"_Does it look like I care?" inquired Vingalmo. "You always treated me like shit when we were in the same division. I don't tolerate disrespect to me."_

_He stepped forward, but Kamaria stopped him._

"_You aren't touching him" she said raising her hammer._

_He grinned. "Is that a threat?"_

"_No. It's a promise" she answered firmly._

_He laughed. "Bitch, I never liked you either. And I don't tolerate disrespect from self-righteous weak bitches."_

_He slid the blade off his shoulder. "Prepare to die."_

_He swung his crescent blade in a huge arc, smiling evilly._

_Kamaria blocked it, but not without some amazement. It was like trying to stop a rolling boulder or a charging bear. It was truly a huge and heavy weapon._

_The Altmer skipped forward and backhanded her. Twirling his blade, he slashed into her torso._

_The Redguard backed up and tried to counter._

_Vingalmo swung, but something stopped him._

_Skjor was on his elbows, his sword embedded deep in the Elf's calf._

"_Fucker!" roared the Altmer. He stomped the Nord on the head and raised his blade. "Can't wait to die can you?"_

_Kamaria strode into his swing and blocked it, putting forth all her effort._

"_Why do you defend me?" demanded Skjor. "Let me die already."_

"_If you want to die, than jump off a fucking bridge!" yelled the Redguard. "Otherwise, save your strength so you can keep fighting!"_

_The Nord stopped. Obviously her statement had got to him. _

_Vingalmo leaned down to Kamaria, grinning. "Finally got through his thick skull eh? Not that it'll do him much good. As soon as I kill you, I'm bashing his head in."_

"_Go on and try it" she said smiling in return. "I got stronger you know. I did beat him."_

_The Altmer giggled. "You really don't know what I am do you?"_

_He pulled down his bottom lip, revealing that all of his teeth were razor sharp. They appeared to be stained with blood and had gore crusted onto them._

"_You're…a vampire?" asked Skjor slightly astonished. "You really are a dumbass."_

"_Why? I'm not the typical brand" said the Elf smiling. "I'm one of the Volkihar, the most elite and deadly variant."_

_His yellow eyes flashed and the fangs lengthened. "Let's show you what I mean."_

_Six black spines sprouted from his back and flared outwards, growing blades as they extended. They wrapped around their host protectively, flicking their blade extensions as they did so._

_The Altmer shuddered as his hands grew long talons out of his knuckles, bursting through his skin violently. His teeth sprouted new fangs, black as midnight, that flashed with his blood. _

_Vingalmo chuckled, clicking his new mandibles together. "Ha. You both are going to die."_

_He crouched down, placing the spider legs around him. _

"_Here I come!" he yelled._

_He captured forward, his hands outstretched to tear._

_Kamaria blocked and leaped back, rapidly moving her hammer to defend. _

_The Altmer spun and extended his spines, moving like a saw across the ground. He began gouging into the earth with every rotation, throwing up dust and soot as he passed._

_The Redguard felt her weapon forcibly ripped from her hands, then she was knocked to the floor._

"_Die bitch!" roared Vingalmo preparing all his arms._

_She breathed in deep, expecting the end._

_The Altmer stabbed forward._

_Something white smashed onto the vampire, sending him through a tree and onto the dirt._

_Kamaria looked up, then saw a curving white scarf blow past her._

"_I assume you are done using the restroom?" asked Ordal holding his sword. _

_She smiled. "Yes. And yet again, you come in just at the nick of time."_

"_I seem to be developing that habit" murmured the Imperial blankly._

_Skjor glanced at him, still lying on the ground. "Ugh. You two are going out? Shit."_

"_Ah, Skjor. I was wondering where you had went" said Ordal calmly looking at him. "I assume you can be treated as neutral?"_

"_Now you can" murmured the Nord. "I'm done here. I'm just gonna take a nap and go on back home."_

_He then collapsed, closing his eyes from exhaustion._

"_Interesting. He seems to have lost some of his pride" muttered the Imperial. "What did you say to him?"_

"_Nothing really. Just what he needed to here."_

_Vingalmo sprinted through the forest, slicing through trees in his way. He had a huge grin on his face and was laughing to himself._

"_Hey captain!" he yelled jumping forward._

_Ordal instantly got serious and leaped back. Charging up his sword, he swung it and released an arc of lightning._

_The Altmer took the blow to the chest and grunted. Stabbing with three arms, he sidestepped and swung the others._

_The Imperial deflected the swing and put a single finger forward._

"_Lightning Bomb" he murmured letting his magicka rise._

_A small ball of lightning hit Vingalmo in the chest and exploded, sending him to the ground smoking. _

_Ordal jumped on him and charged up a second, pointed directly at his head. _

"_Heh, no mercy huh?" asked the Altmer cockily. "How vampire-like of you. I truly appreciate that."_

"_I will never show mercy to those who injure those I care about" stated the Imperial slightly annoyed. "Of course, someone like you wouldn't understand such a concept."_

_Vingalmo laughed. "Bitch, I understand it just fine."_

"_Good."_

_Ordal fired the Bomb and it instantly exploded outwards, not even touching the user._

_The Imperial sighed and wiped the dust from his sleeve. "Let's go. I fought another one like him, and they take a while to…"_

"_Where you going?" asked Vingalmo standing back up. All the arms on the right side of his body were gone and he was missing a chunk of his face. It appeared that he was regenerating slowly, but it wouldn't take that long._

"_You are nearly defeated" said Ordal simply. "I defeated you with barely any effort. If I went all the way, you would surely die. Don't make a mistake."_

"_A mistake? Fuck you" spat the Altmer trying to walk. He stumbled and collapsed to a knee, but he still tried to get back up._

"_You…" began the Elf gritting his teeth. "You…people. Every single fucking one of you. You all had the gall to show pity on me…And you do it without even knowing how much it hurts me…How would you feel…if everyone who could possibly give you a good death shows mercy? Huh?! How would you feel?!"_

_He stood up, blood pouring from the severed limbs on his right side. "Tell me how you would feel, you BASTARD!"_

_He leaped forward, his three spines out to stab._

_Ordal deflected the strike and slashed him across the chest._

_Vingalmo gasped and collapsed again, kneeling from pain._

"_Do it" he ordered sternly, even as he bled out on the dirt. "Do it and let me have a good death."_

_He glared up at him. "DO IT! COME ON! FUCKING DO IT!"_

_The Imperial narrowed his eyes, then hit him directly in the forehead._

_Blood flew from the wound and Vingalmo collapsed to the dirt, bleeding intensely._

"_You…killed him" murmured Kamaria deeply surprised. _

"_No. I only wounded him" he said sheathing his sword. "I saw no reason to grant his request. He deserves to die against a more equal opponent than I. Our skills are as far apart as the heavens from the earth. Hopefully, he will find an opponent who can only benefit from his death."_

_Ordal looked at her and smiled softly. "Now, shall we continue on our journey?"_


	18. Chapter 18

_Ordal walked deeper into the valley between the mountains, snow cascading onto his body. He had just passed through Helgen and was approaching his destination. _

"_You still haven't told us where we're going" said Kamaria hugging his arm._

_He smiled softly. "I'm sorry. It is a personal thing."_

"_No matter. I'll always be there to support you."_

_He nodded. "Thank you."_

_She smiled up at him. "You're smiling a lot more than usual."_

"_I never had a reason to smile before I met you" he said honestly._

_She giggled. "That's pretty romantic for you. Try not to get too out of character."_

"_I was being completely honest" he replied kissing her on the forehead gently._

_He stopped. "We're here."_

_They were now standing outside of a large cave opening. It was completely unmarked and appeared to be uninhabited. _

"_I hate to be away from you, but I must go alone" he said holding her hand tenderly. _

_Kamaria pouted. "Do you have to?"_

_He kissed her softly on the lips. "Unfortunately yes my love. I'll be right back."_

_He walked into the cave, his cold demeanor washing back over himself. He sniffed the air._

"_Vampires" he noted with disdain._

_He didn't even bother drawing his sword, instead opting to charge up his Lightning Bomb._

"_I don't have time to waste" he said slightly rushed. "If I see something, I'll blow it away."_

_He reached the end of the rock tunnel and came to a huge atrium in the mountain. In the center of this room was a statue of a man with a dog. The man was at least thirty feet tall and appeared to be made of silver._

_Ordal noticed that there was a group of vampires at the foot of the statue, seemingly praying to it._

"_I apologize, but I need an audience first" he said firing the Lightning Bomb._

_The mass of lightning smashed into the group and exploded, disintegrating them into ash and spread it across the cave. _

_The Imperial walked over to the statue boldly, glaring up at it without any fear. "Clavicus Vile. I need to talk to you."_

_The shrine remained silent and he sighed._

"_Damn it."_

_He tossed a bag of Septims on the altar. "I wish to ask for something."_

"_**Well than, speak away"**__ said the statue instantly. __**"I am happy to make a deal."**_

_The statue paused. __**"Oh wow, you're that one Hircine talks about. Ordal. The one who hunted Lycanthropes in Solstheim."**_

"_That's why I wanted to talk to you."_

"_**Oh well, that's a problem. You see, you're Hircine's property. I can't affect anything he's done for you. Your soul isn't in my realm."**_

_Ordal snarled. "You are the Daedric Prince of wishes and deals. Surely you could arrange something?"_

"_**Oh sure. Just sacrifice to me five hundred virgins and I'll completely remove the contract Hircine has on you."**_

_The Imperial's jaw dropped. "There aren't that many virgins in Skyrim."_

_Hircine giggled. __**"You have a point. But what do want me to do?"**_

_Ordal sighed. "I only wish to not have my soul permanently trapped in Hircine's Hunting Grounds for all of eternity."_

"_**A curious request. Any specific reasoning?"**_

"_I…I have obtained someone I hope to spend all of eternity with. Even if I have to sacrifice my own body, I'll gladly do it so I can be with her in the afterlife."_

_Hircine paused, legitimately surprised. __**"That's so romantic. I want to grab some popcorn and let you tell me about it, but that would be a big waste of time."**_

_The statue actually radiated an aura of deep thought. __**"I'll see what I can do. But first thing's first, I have to talk to Hircine. Your soul is out of my jurisdiction."**_

"_Good luck trying to convince him" murmured Ordal. "He's a stubborn old hunter."_

"_**Yes, but stubborn old hunters are incredibly predictable"**__ stated Hircine. He began giggling._

"_**Oh man, I haven't had such a tasty offer in years!"**__ yelled the Daedric Prince. __**"Don't worry mortal, I wouldn't DREAM of letting something like this pass me by. Just wait here while I talk to him."**_

* * *

**I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but I plan on a great one for the next one. After all, we brought the Daedric Princes into the mix. It can only get interesting after this point. Just go to my forum (Ways of the Dragonborn) or PM me for any questions you want answered. **


	19. Chapter 19

_Clavicus Vile collected himself inside his statue, trying to bring up as much power as he could. He would need it to travel farther across Skyrim due to the limitations Daedra had in influencing the realm of Mundis. The statue around him heated up and he concentrated deeply._

"_Let's see. Which container should I use?" he debated looking around Skyrim quickly. He had dozens of them for this very purpose, just so he could occupy their bodies to use. It didn't matter where they were, since he could place his powers into them. Since all Daedra had some sort of teleportation abilities, he could be anywhere at once in the physical body. Unfortunately, he first had to find a body he was pleased with to use._

"_Hmm. Too old. Too young. Too Argonian" he mused quietly. "Oh! I could use that one!"_

_He channeled his energy from his statue to the body, moving as rapidly as a shadow. If anyone had noticed anything, it would appear like a breeze of some kind that went against the rest of them. He technically was only a bundle of magicka until he got to his destination, and he was also vulnerable in this state. If someone siphoned off the magicka while he wasn't in a host body, he could be injured. _

"_But it doesn't matter" he muttered speeding towards his destination. "Mortals cannot kill Daedra, simple as that. Our souls are only touching their mortal realms, so they cannot kill those. It would be similar if they went to our realm. Maybe there they could kill us."_

_He giggled. "That idiot Martin fellow should've considered that. Maybe if he had launched an army against Mehrunes Dagon and lead him into Oblivion, we all would finally be rid of him."_

_He sighed, even though he didn't have lungs at the moment. "But alas, they didn't have the foresight or knowledge to figure out how to kill a Daedric Prince. For shame."_

_He finally reached the body and sank into it. The person's body spasmed and bucked, pure lightning coursing through them._

"_I imagine this must be uncomfortable" he muttered to the original person's soul, who could hear him clearly. "Sadly, I need this body for a few minutes, maybe an hour. This is part of our deal after all."_

_The person withered beneath him, all resistance crushed by his huge presence. He didn't even have a quarter of his power on Mundis and they could still feel it. _

"_Minor Daedric Prince my ass" he murmured trying to adjust the person's body. "I can barely keep this sack together with my aura."_

_He scoffed as he nearly tore the person's arm in two when he shoved his own inside of it. "No wonder Molag has his hosts be children. They are so much more flexible and adjustable then adults. But occupying a child sounds…depraved."_

_Clavicus finally managed to squeeze inside the person and cracked his jaw. This body was one he didn't use often, one of a young Breton woman. He always used women, since he liked the idea. It had absolutely nothing to do with personal aesthetics, since he couldn't really see the difference between men and women. The brain and heart were definitely different though._

"_She's been rather naughty" he murmured, embarrassing the hostess's soul immensely. "I want to find some of your bed partners and congratulate them for claiming such a prize, but I have things to do."_

_He stepped outside, noting how the sun was hanging low. It was dawn, and he knew who would be out._

"_Where would you be hunting Hircine?" he wondered intently. "Ah, I know just the place."_

_He then teleported, shimmering into thousands of points of light and fading like stars behind clouds._

_BREAK_

_Clavicus Vile stepped through the portal he had made, hitting bare stone instantly. He smiled as he felt a similar presence as his nearby. He had gotten his destination spot on._

"_Hircine" he whispered, letting some of magicka leak out of the woman's mouth. "I need to speak to you."_

_He felt a cold breeze blast around him, like a tornado was moving through the area. He stood silent, not even afraid of being hurt. After all, he could regenerate this body easily, even if it felt like plywood to his power._

_Something smashed into the hilltop ruin, seemingly carried by the wind. The person wore leather armor that was stained black and didn't give any shine at all, making it hard to notice unless you were looking at it. His hair was long and unkempt, reaching almost to his waist in the back. He was holding a huge bow, taller than the person wielding it. It looked like a Daedric bow, with a large heart pulsating at the handle. _

_The person stood, revealing his eyes. The sclera was glowing slightly green, making the black part of the eye in the center stand out even more. He looked like a predator, the gleam of his eyes making it very obvious._

"_**Clavicus"**__ spoke the hunter dryly, __**"yet again you interrupt my hunt."**_

_He giggled and adjusted the woman's skirt, pulling it slightly over her knees teasingly. "Well you know me. I like to mess things up."_

_Hircine growled. __**"What do you need me for? I am in the middle of something."**_

_Clavicus nodded. "Well, I'm here to talk to you."_

"_**Oh?"**_

_He giggled. "You see, I'm here to make a deal."_

_Hircine turned. __**"I'm going."**_

"_Wait!" pleaded Clavicus grabbing his shoulder. "This one doesn't involve you doing anything."_

"_**Then why are you talking to me?"**__ asked the hunter logically._

"_Damn it you got me."_

_Hircine narrowed his eyes. __**"What do you want?"**_

_Clavicus blushed slightly. "Do you know of a person named Ordal?" he inquired twirling a finger into the hunter's hair. _

_Hircine smacked his hand aside. __**"Of course I do. One of my finest hunters. What do you want, are you making a deal with him right now?"**_

_The deal-maker smacked his hands, holding them up as he did so. "You caught me red-handed."_

_The hunter snarled. __**"Stay away from him. He's my property."**_

"_Oh come on Hircine, that's not a good attitude" pouted Clavicus. He was hoping the female body he had occupied would help this part of the negotiations, but it appeared to be making it worse._

_Hircine radiated an aura of hatred and the mountaintop ruin trembled around them._

"_Easy there. Don't want to tear a hole in Mundis" stated the deal-maker cautiously._

_The hunter sighed and the energy dispelled itself. __**"Fine. But what deal are you making?"**_

_Clavicus smiled. "This Ordal is a very romantic type. He wishes to spend eternity with his lover when he dies, wherever she goes in this case."_

_Hircine nodded. __**"Simple solution. We get her soul and they'll be together in my Hunting Grounds."**_

"_Oh you foolish old hunter" said the deal-maker dismissively. "Hunting things is not romantic at all."_

"_**I do not understand."**_

_Clavicus smacked himself. "Of course. Daedric Prince of the Hunt. You really are clueless to how these mortals interact aren't you?"_

"_**Did you expect me to know anything?"**__ asked Hircine coldly._

"_Well, a hunter must always know his prey" taunted the deal-maker licking his lips. "You said that yourself."_

_The hunter growled, letting some of the ruins around him crumble. _

"_**What are you getting at?"**_

"_Well, I am still thinking about what kind of deal I'm going to make with this Ordal character. I want to make it interesting, and I know you won't hand him over easily."_

"_**Damn right I won't."**_

"**Honestly, you two are like children"**_ stated a third voice appearing suddenly. _

_The ruin instantly began to crumble faster, rocks sliding out of place and turning into dust._

_The two Daedric Princes turned and stared in astonishment at the man._

_This man wore a long robe that appeared to be stitched together out of thousands of different fabrics. His skin was exactly the same, including metal stitches running across every visible surface. He had three eyes, one of which was centered in his forehead vertically, giving him an alien appearance. His hair was long and appeared to be dead, as it was incredibly dry and stiff. _

"_**Sheogorath"**__ murmured Hircine surprised. __**"I didn't expect to see you out here."**_

"**Well, I always appear when people don't want me"**_ explained the Mad God calmly. _

"_You got a new body" stated Clavicus. "And you're still talking differently."_

"**But of course. I didn't like the way I looked or sounded"**_ stated Sheogorath brushing a strand of hair aside. _**"Now, what's this about a deal?"**

"_**Why are you here?"**__ inquired the hunter. __**"This mortal's soul has no connection to you at all."**_

_The Mad God laughed. _**"No connection? I am inside every person's soul, wherever they like it or not. I am everywhere and nowhere. But enough drabble. We're kinda tearing a hole in Mundis."**

_The three Daedric Princes noticed that the space around them was slowly tearing itself apart, the very air becoming disoriented. It was similar to an incredibly hot day, if this hypothetical hot day happened on the sun. _

"_Oh my, this poor body is baking in this heat" murmured Clavicus fanning himself with a wave of the hand._

"_**If you start taking off clothes, I'm leaving"**__ threatened Hircine._

"**Oh, and if he does start, I'll stay and watch"**_ said Sheogorath grinning._

_The deal-maker giggled. "Sorry boys, no show today. Now, let's think about what we're going to do with this soul."_

_The Mad God chuckled. _**"I already have an idea."**

"_**Really? Go on. I want to get moving anyway"**__ murmured the hunter._

"**It's simple really. When this mortal is defeated in battle, he will return to Hircine's realm in Oblivion. That doesn't change. But…"**

_Sheogorath laughed. _**"Let's just say we wiped his memory before this incident? And if he discovers the memories before he dies in battle…"**

"_**He goes on with his lover"**__ murmured Hircine._

"_Ha! That's truly brilliant!" yelled Clavicus. "I can't even imagine how fun that would be to watch!"_

"_**Unfortunately, I don't have enough power to wipe his memory" **__stated the hunter. __**"His soul isn't that far under my sway."**_

"**Well, we outta change that"**_ said Sheogorath. _**"Relatively simple. He goes to your shrine, you zap him, he forgets. And the game begins."**

_Hircine nodded. __**"True. But why should I accept?"**_

"_Oh don't be a party-pooper!" shouted the deal-maker. "Sheogorath's offer sounded so entertaining! Just imagine it!"_

"_**I don't see the fun"**__ murmured the hunter._

"**Well that's because you're a miserable, old, rotten hunter!"**_ roared the Mad God. _

_Hircine's left eye twitched. __**"Old?"**_

"**Yes, you goddamn wrinkled, ancient sack of shit!" **

_The hunter grabbed him by the collar, causing a huge stone column to come crashing down._

"_**How dare you call me old you bubbling, foolish joker!?"**__ he yelled letting his anger radiate out. __**"I could easily tear out your very soul right now!"**_

_Sheogorath looked at him smugly. _

_Then Hircine realized he couldn't breathe._

_He grasped at his throat and collapsed, the soul of his fellow Daedric Prince suffocating him._

"**You haven't forgotten who I was had you?"**_ asked the Mad God slightly annoyed. _**"I wasn't always this bubbling idiot remember?"**

_Hircine nodded. __**"Of course. I was one of the Princes who had you struck down to your current form. I don't apologize for that."**_

_Sheogorath narrowed his eyes, then laughed audibly. _

"**Oh good! I just wanted to make sure you hadn't gone senile and forgotten it!"**

_He dropped his suffocating aura, letting Hircine breathe again._

"_Now that you two are done with your cat-fight, can we continue?" inquired Clavicus._

"_**Of course"**__ said Hircine standing up. __**"Now, I'll go along with the idea. I have hundreds of hunters, losing one of them isn't a big deal to me. Besides, love is an emotion I had hoped to observe so I can use it against other mortals."**_

_Sheogorath giggled. _**"I do that all the time. But I am glad we came to an agreement. Now, I need to go check on the casserole I have in the oven. I just devised a delicious concoction that involved high amounts of cheese and peanut butter and I just can't wait to test it!"**

_He disappeared in a swarm of black butterflies and the ruin instantly stopped crumbling._

"_**I freaking hate him"**__ murmured Hircine rubbing his neck._

"_He is rather annoying" stated Clavicus. "But we did make him who he is. I guess that's our own fault."_

_He giggled. "So, a deal's a deal?"_

_The hunter sighed. He extended a hand. __**"Yes."**_

_They shook hands, two Daedric Princes actually making contact. _

"_Now, I better go talk to Ordal" said Clavicus brushing a strand of hair aside. "He's probably antsy to get the news back."_

* * *

**Well that was fun! Leave any comments about the three Daedric Princes, would ya kindly?**


	20. Chapter 20

_Ordal walked out of the cave, his normal calm persona over him. He had received the news from Clavicus Vile had his anxiety levels were through the roof._

"_How do I explain this?" he whispered to himself. "He never said I couldn't tell her."_

_He scowled. "But after I visit that shrine, she can't be near me. That's part of their sick game."_

_He clenched his sword. "I am not going to enjoy this."_

_He looked up and saw that Kamaria was seated at a campfire, calmly making some stew. She looked up and smiled._

"_Ah, are you done?" she asked hopefully._

"_Yes" he answered sitting next to her and kissing her. _

"_Good" she said stirring the pot. "So, where are we going now?"_

_Ordal paused, thinking it over. There wasn't a definite date he had to be at Hircine's shrine and he could literally spend as long as he wanted to._

_He smiled softly. "Does it matter?"_

* * *

Kamaria kicked the ashes of that ancient campfire, staring down at it sadly. She remembered that day so well, the sadness in his eyes.

"What kind of sick Daedra makes a deal like that?" she wondered aloud.

"All the Daedra do such things" said Gust calmly. "It's in their nature."

"You would know that best wouldn't you?"

The masked man nodded. "I do."

The Redguard sighed. "Why did he have to fall in love with me? And why did I have to fall in love with him? All I did was hurt him."

"When one loves, one always runs the risk of breeding hate" stated Gust.

"Well if that's the case…"

She tightened her fists. "Then I wish to become stronger, so I can rid the hate from this world. I want to cast it aside, so that no more pain will be born from it."

The two of them stood silent for a few moments.

"How foolish."

She turned and looked at him surprised.

Gust glared at her with his one eye. "Do you think you can rid this world of hate so easily? Hate is an emotion, not a disease. You cannot get rid of hate by force."

"Than what does!?" screamed Kamaria frustrated. "What will rid me of my pain!? Love only made me feel pain, and loneliness only made me drown in anguish!? And now you say even power won't work!? What does work against pain and hate!? Tell me!"

She collapsed to her knees and began to sob, sitting in the ashes of that campfire.

"Only love can get rid of hate."

She looked up at him surprised.

The masked man reached for his face. Stopping hesitantly, he ripped his mask off.

She gasped. His face was one of an angel, one that was absolutely beautiful. His skin shimmered in the moonlight and looked like it hadn't ever felt age.

"I think it's about time you realized that" he said calmly. "The only way hate can be countered is by surrounding it in love. Yes, love opens up the risk of pain, but is loneliness any better? The person you love isn't the one who's perfect for you; it's the one you can't live without."

He sighed. "Just look at me. I've wandered this earth for years and am one of the most powerful people to walk upon it, but if I do not know love, I am worthless. If I could rearrange the stars and move mountains just with my breath, but do not know love, then I am as powerless as the dirt that others trample. If I could change the hearts of men and lead entire worlds into peace, but not love, then I am just a passing wind."

He crouched down and wiped away one of her tears. "I cannot offer you my love, for my love only breed suffering. Instead, I will show you the way to love others. For only love can make you powerful."

"Why? Why do you care so much?"

He smiled. "Isn't it obvious? We Dragonborn have to take care of each other. We're family, like it or not. It's the role of the big brother to help the younger siblings. That's why I was born first."

He stood up and extended a hand. "So stand up, my Dragonborn sister."

She looked up at him, then grabbed his hand.

He helped her up and put his mask back on his face.

"Now, there's one more place you need to go to" he said walking.

She gulped. "I know."

"Do you wish to go there? It's your choice."

Kamaria shivered and it wasn't from the cold. "I will go. I have to. It's only right."

"What's right or wrong is determined by each person. But if you wish to go, I will always follow you. Until you are ready, I will help you."

She nodded. "Right."

She wiped away her tears. "Let's go."

Gust nodded firmly and kept walking, his Dragonborn sibling close beside him.

**Before you even ask, Gust is NOT Ordal. Since I want closure on such an argument, Gust is actually HIM (Yeah the HIM). There's a reason he hopes up everywhere. **


	21. Chapter 21

"_So, is this it?"_

"_Yes my love."_

_The two of them stood outside of a small clearing in the forest, waiting just at the outline of it. Both of them were dressed in their winter wear and had an aura of sadness about them._

"_Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked nervously. "You don't have to."_

"_I do" protested Ordal. "This life is temporary. I want to spend eternity with you my love. I will do whatever it takes to do so."_

_Kamaria nodded. "I understand. But…"_

_She grasped at his shirt. "I don't want to lose you."_

_He smiled gently. "You won't. I will conquer this challenge. And when I do, we can be together in the afterlife, whatever that may entail."_

_He glanced into the clearing. "So shall we go?"_

_She nodded firmly. "Of course."_

_They both stepped into the clearing and noted what was there. In the center of this clearing was a small pile of rocks with a sword in the center of it. Around the stone was varying items of value, probably offers to the Daedra it represented. There were quivers of arrows, fresh pelts from fine kills and various other objects._

_Ordal looked at the pile of stones and sighed. "Here I go."_

_Kamaria grabbed his arm. "Wait."_

_He looked back at her and smiled softly. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."_

_She began to cry softly, then she pulled something out of her pocket._

"_Here" she said handing it to him. "I can't be with you when this happens, but I want you to have this."_

_He looked at the object. It was a ring, a simple silver band with a sapphire in the center. On the side was his name. Nothing else._

"_I will treasure it always" he said slipping it onto his finger. "Now go."_

_She nodded, then grabbed him and kissed him firmly. _

_He closed his eyes, enjoying this one final act. _

_She let him go. _

"_Goodbye" she whispered letting her tears flow._

_Ordal felt a few tears of his own slip. "Of course my love. Goodbye. No matter what happens, I will always love you."_

_She nodded and began running, crying to herself as she went away._

_The Imperial turned to the pile of stones and scowled._

"_These Daedra disgust me" he muttered._

_Then he bowed to a knee and lowered his head._

"_Lord Hircine, here I kneel" he whispered to the shrine. "Show your grace unto me, noble hunter."_

_Someone stepped out from the clearing from the opposite side, walking with a grace that no human possessed. He had a large bow in his hands and his hair swept to his knees. _

"_Good evening, my hunter" said Hircine calmly. "Are you ready to do this?"_

"_Yes."_

_The hunter nodded. "Good walk over to me."_

_Ordal stood and shook his head. "No."_

"_Pardon?"_

"_I will only bow to you once. You will come to me."_

_Hircine nodded. "I see no difference. I still get what I want."_

_He strode over to him and towered over the human. "Are you ready?"_

_Ordal glanced out of the clearing, and even from so far away he could still see Kamaria. He smiled softly._

"_I am ready Lord Hircine. Please do as you will."_

"_Of course, noble hunter."_

_The Daedric Prince grabbed the human's head gently and closed his eyes. _

* * *

_Ordal woke up in the middle of a field he didn't recognize. He sat up and rubbed his head. _

_He glanced at his outfit. He knew it was some kind of armor, but he didn't remember putting it on. _

"_Strange. Where am I?"_

_He paused. "Who am I?"_

_He glanced at his hands and saw that there was a ring on one of his fingers._

"_Ordal" he read from the side of the ring._

_He smiled. "I like that. That shall be my name."_

_He caressed the ring softly. "Since this gave me my name, I shall keep it so I will not forget my name."_

_He stood up and nearly collapsed. He wasn't entirely sure how to stand._

"_Okay, both feet must be on level ground" he concluded testing it out. _

_He looked and saw that he was lying near a shrine of some kind. It was a strange pile of stones with a sword sticking out of the top. He couldn't even fathom what sort of deity would want to be worshiped there._

"_Probably shouldn't touch it" he concluded. "Someone may get offended."_

_He looked around. "But who? I don't know anyone who could get offended. Come to think of it, I don't remember anyone."_

_He shrugged. "I still will not touch it. Better safe than sorry."_

_He walked out of the clearing and came to a road._

"_Road" he muttered to himself. "What a strange word. How do I know it?"_

_He felt the stones on the ground. "Someone planted these. Why? What does this odd collection of rocks do?"_

_He stopped when he heard something approach him down the road. He wasn't sure what to do, so he decided to not move._

_A large wooden device of some kind approached him, with two weird creatures guiding it. There was another man on the top of the back of the device, holding a set of leather lines._

"_Whoa there!" yelled the driver. He was wearing what appeared to be leather armor and had a visor over his mouth. His skin was an strange orangish color, making him look rather odd._

"_Why do you stand in the middle of the street?" asked the driver. _

"_I…I don't know" admitted Ordal. I don't know much of anything."_

"_Well that's too bad. Now I must ask that you move aside so I can get moving."_

"_Wait!"_

_Someone stepped out form the back of the device. He wore a long white robe with black accents across it and had a grey mask on._

"_Fog, we don't have time for this" said the driver._

"_Shut it" ordered the masked man._

_He walked over to Ordal. "Do you have a name, confused stranger?"_

"_Ordal."_

_The masked man nodded. "Do you want to come with us?"_

"_Us?"_

_Fog reached for his mask and took it off. His face was that of a young man, maybe twenty. Both of his eyes were golden and shone brilliantly. Across his face was a huge scar that appeared to be a burn mark._

"_We're powerful and we can help you. We could use strong guys like you on our team."_

"_You can…help me?"_

_Fog smiled. "Of course."_

_Ordal nodded. "I think…I think I should go with you. I need to figure out some things."_

_The masked man grinned. "Of course."_

_He strapped the mask back onto his face._

"_Come on then. Into the carriage."_

"_So that is what that device is called. What are those creatures on the front of it?"_

_Fog chuckled. "Those are horses."_

_Ordal stretched out a hand and nuzzled one of them slightly. It howled approvingly and he shrunk back._

"_Horses" he muttered. "I will remember that."_

"_Good. Now let's get going. The Silver Hand will be better with a man like you with us."_

**And that's how Ordal the Silver Hand was made. Go back to the Hound if you're wondering who that is.**


	22. Chapter 22

Kamaria glanced at the shrine before her, tears slowly going into her eyes. The items around the stones were different, probably from various worshippers, but the pile of stones hadn't changed. Neither had the sword, which showed no sign of age.

She collapsed to her knees and began to sob, remembering that day. It felt like a red hot iron had smashed into her heart, boiling away her chest and bones.

"Gods damn me" she murmured to herself. "I can't stop crying. I'm so weak."

She looked at the sword, noticing how similar it looked to Ordal's. It looked just like his actually.

"I forgot all the lessons you gave me. I became weak. I'm so sorry. I couldn't even honor your death and now I desecrate it with my tears. It's not fair."

She slammed her fist into the ground. "It's not fair! You didn't deserve to sacrifice everything for me! I was nothing then and I'm nothing now! I don't deserve your love!"

She bowed her head and kept sobbing. "Damn it. Someone just kill me now. I no longer have the strength to stand."

"Just let it out" instructed Gust standing to the side. "I know what it feels like to lose someone I care about. More than anyone, I know what that feels like. But I cannot help you in this. You must help yourself."

"Right" she said wiping her tears. "I'm alone now. I always had to rely on others to help me. I never learned to stand by myself."

She stood, her fists clenched. "So that's how I'll honor your memory Ordal! I'll learn to stand! I won't need to rely on you or anyone else ever again! I'll become strong, so I can honor you forever!"

Kamaria glared at the shrine. "And I know the first thing I'll do to achieve that."

Gust's eye widened. "You're not going to…"

"HIRCINE!" she screamed kicking the bundle of rocks. "Show your fucking face!"

Something flew through the clearing, moving like an eagle. It slammed into the Redguard, lifting her off her feet.

She stared in awe at the thing that had caught her, a tight fist around her throat.

"**Did you call me mortal?"** asked Hircine blankly. **"What do you want?"**

She stopped, completely stunned by him. He looked so beautiful, like he was pure nature in a form. But even so, she could see the cracks in his skin. He was shattered from being a force of nature, mentally unstable. She could see the lines where he had cried endlessly for nights, cursing his existence.

"You can only observe mortals" she muttered amazed. "You cannot symphonize with us. You do not understand love or emotions. And because of that it confuses you. That's why you took such a special interest in Ordal. He astonished you, and made you question if a hunter could have emotions. And because of that, you wondered if you could have them yourself."

"**You are wasting my time. I have far more important things to do than battle philosophy with a dumb whore"** he spat annoyed. **"I am a hunter, a force of desire. I am like a violent wind, or a great thunderstorm. I am Daedra…"**

He gripped her tighter, snarling. **"And Daedra do not have fucking emotions!"**

He threw her across the clearing, the grass beginning to wither and die around him. **"So don't try to pull that on me! We Daedra are incapable of feeling emotions! We are the opposite of the gods in this universe, beings of destruction! We will continue to do what we were appointed to do until time runs dry and everything dies! Not even the gods can stop that from happening! I have accepted this and find absolute peace in it!"**

"Then why..?" questioned Kamaria standing up unsteadily. His power was crushing her, but she couldn't back down now. Not after all she had gone through.

"Then answer me this Hircine. If you are incapable of feeling emotions, how are you getting angry? And a better question: How come you've cried before? I can see it on your face."

Hircine paused, his eyes shaking.

Then the left eye exploded, blood gushing over his body.

"**BITCH!"** he roared flying at her.

He grabbed her and smashed her into a tree, his great strength overcoming her resistance.

"**How dare you question me!? I am the Hunt! I am Hircine! I am your most basic instincts in this world! I am the thing that makes man an animal! Without me, mankind wouldn't have been able to scrape themselves out of the mud and feces they had built around themselves! I am a physical god on this plain!"**

He hoisted her off her feet, shaking her angrily. **"And yet, you question me!? What kind of mortal are you!?"**

"You don't understand?" inquired Gust calmly, not even bothering to stop what was going on. "That girl is more powerful than you will ever understand."

"**What are you talking about!?"** demanded Hircine. **"She's weak! Full of doubt and fear! I could crush her with a single glance! I can make her blood boil in her veins! I can hunt her for centuries without resting! How could she possibly be stronger than I!?"**

"It's simple" explained the masked man chuckling. "When a being reaches a certain level of power, other lesser beings can't even detect that power. It's just beyond their grasp. It's like trying to describe a cube to a square."

"**I know that! That's why this mortal should be afraid of me!"**

Gust laughed. **"What? Afraid of you? Nonsense. We can sense your power; we aren't so far away from what you think. For beings to detect other being's powers, they either have to be at the same level of that being…"**

He looked up, his one eye flashing. "Or they have to be stronger."

"**What?!"**

Hircine threw the girl to the ground. **"Nonsense! What can she do that is more powerful than I!?"**

He glared at the man. **"Answer me! I demand an answer!"**

"It's simple. That girl can do one thing that you are incapable of doing."

Kamaria nodded, standing up slowly. "He's right…"

She chuckled, grabbing her warhammer. "I have one thing that you will never have."

She glared at him. "I can feel love."

Hircine's eye twitched, his teeth bleeding as he ground them to dust.

"**What nonsense!"** he roared in anger. **"That's foolish! Bullshit! What could that possibly do!?"**

"Simple really" answered Gust. "Love makes you powerful."

Kamaria nodded, drawing her warhammer. "And I'm about to prove it to you."

Hircine's eye widened in horror. This outright display of defiance and courage. How was it possible? She could barely stand against his aura of power, and yet she stood there.

"**I can't detect her power"** he murmured shocked. **"It's like she's not even there…"**

He screamed in frustration, tearing at his hair.

Kamaria yelled a battle cry and sprinted at him, her hammer raised high.

"**Stay the fuck away from me!"** he exclaimed leaping backwards.

He crossed his arms and tree branches burst from the ground, forming a shield in front of him.

The Redguard cried out and smashed through them, not even breaking her run.

"**This is…impossible"** he muttered. **"I'm immortal…but yet…I fear her. Why do I fear her?"**

His eye widened again. **"I fear what I don't understand."**

"FUS RO DAH!" exclaimed Kamaria slamming into him.

Hircine was propelled into the forest, smashing through trees in his way.

"**Power in love..? Ridiculous"** he murmured. **"She caught me off guard. That's all."**

He hit the ground and his mortal body began to disintegrate into ash.

"**She's not powerful"** he whispered in shock. **"She didn't defeat me with this love. She defeated me by distracting me enough. I'm so conflicted I can't even keep this body together. Damn it. I'll give her credit, it was a wise tactic. But what will that accomplish? What does this do for her?"**

"Simple" stated Gust walking beside him. "It proves to her that she is strong. And…"

He removed his mask, exposing his angelic face. Oddly, they both looked remarkably similar.

"And you will be surrendering some of your power" said the masked man blankly. He held up his right hand, a small green cloud in the center of it. "Lord Hircine, you are a great hunter. The best. But you are Daedra. And since you cannot feel emotions, only your will powers you. Things like love or hate do not exist for you, and you cannot use them as driving forces for your power. It's like trying to control a raging river. Sure it's powerful to begin with, but it's far more effective if you put stones to concentrate it. That's why humans will always be stronger than Daedra."

"**Fool. You cannot expect me to believe this drivel. Than how did Dagon slaughter you all so effortlessly 200 years ago?"** demanded Hircine.

"Oh, that's simple."

Gust grinned evilly. "Dagon is more human than you."

Then he took a step forward and crushed the Daedra's mortal body, splintering it into ash.


	23. Chapter 23

Kamaria twirled the small ball of magicka in her fist, the same one that had just been ripped out of a Daedric Prince's chest.

"What happens now?" she inquired, squeezing the ball softly.

"You consume the energy" replied Gust sitting against a tree.

"But won't that affect me adversely?"

"Doubtful. He did not give the energy freely. I ripped it out of his chest, separating his Daedric form from the human body he was occupying. If he had given it to you, his willpower would still be there. Since it's not, it's just simple magicka."

The Redguard stared at the cloud ball analytically. "Why do I need it?"

"Simple. The only way you can defeat Alduin is with power. You have mastered all of the Dragon Shouts in your time, with my aid, but you do not have the power to wield them."

"I need all of them?"

The masked man nodded. "Alduin is not to be trifled with. He is not supposed to be in this time period, but nevertheless he is. We are not permanently stopping him. We have to suppress him so he will only come out when he has been appointed to."

She sighed. "Damn. Even a guy as powerful as you can't kill him?"

"You can't kill Alduin. He's the offspring of a god. The best we can do is stop him from killing all of us and drive him back into whatever void he dwells in."

Gust looked up at the sky, almost mournfully. "Even my power is not enough."

Kamaria glanced at the ball of magicka again, then popped it into her mouth.

The ball dissipated into a gas when it hit her tongue and slid down her throat. It tasted like pine needles and was very smooth.

When the essence was completely gone, she felt invigorated. It was like it had filled her heart with fire.

"That's amazing" she murmured in surprise.

"Yes. I've had to consume some Daedra power in my time" noted Gust. "Just…don't make a habit of it. The power will eat at your soul if you're not careful."

She nodded. "Where do we go now?"

"What makes you think we need to go anywhere else? Do you think you are ready for war?"

The Redguard paused. "I don't know."

"You won't be fighting alone. We have eight other Dragonborn to back us up."

"Eight?"

"Yes. Ten for every race of Tamriel. Granted, I haven't found them all yet."

Kamaria sighed. "It's just…I feel like I never got to say goodbye."

"To Ordal?"

"Yes. I mean, what if he's still out there, trying to fulfill the deal Hircine made? Will I ever know that?"

Gust removed the mask and looked at her gloomily. "Ordal died. He was killed by one of the Dragonborn."

She stopped dead. "What? How? When?"

"Ordal joined the Silver Hand. One of the Dragonborn was a Lycanthrope. They fought and the Dragonborn won."

Kamaria kept staring at him in shock.

Then she snapped.

"Why did you tell me that!?" she demanded smashing her fist into a tree.

He looked at her, guilt over his face. "Let me ask you a question: How would you have reacted if I told you before this?"

She paused. "I…I would've never gone with you."

"Exactly. I hated lying to you, but I cannot risk endangering one of the Dragonborn. I need all of them at my side to fight Alduin or everybody dies"

Kamaria slumped against a tree, defeated. "Fine. I understand."

She glanced at him. "So…do you know what happened before he died? Did he fulfill the deal?"

Gust put his mask back on. "There's only one way to find out."

She heard something to her left and drew her hammer. She saw what appeared to be the edge of a sword and a white scarf in the wind.

"Who is..?" she began nervously.

Someone stepped out from the foliage, walking gracefully on the ground. He wore a simple grey robe over his frame that was tattered over his feet and hands, as if he had walked thousands of miles with it. The white scarf around his neck was perfect however, as if he had bought it yesterday. His hair was black and long, passing his waist with unfurled edges. The sword at his waist was as long as his leg and looked like it hadn't been drawn for a while.

"By the gods" she murmured in surprise. "It can't be."

"Didn't I say: I will always love you?" inquired Ordal walking towards her. He smiled at her softly. "I meant that with all my heart."

"But you…you died…"

He chuckled. "I did. But in my final moments, the Dragonborn I had met helped me discover what I had forgotten. The love he had for others reminded me of my love for you, and I remembered everything. Since I discovered this before I died, I was allowed to live. It took a while to come back, but now I am here."

His face turned mournful. "My love, I am so sorry that I…"

She smacked him across the face.

Ordal stared at her, completely hurt by her action. Then he saw the tears in her eyes.

She forcefully hugged him, pressing her head into his chest.

"You left me" she muttered dejected.

"I know. And I will never do that again" he whispered back.

"Promise to never let me go."

"I promise."

Gust stood up and walked away, giving them some personal time alone.

Once he was out of hearing distance, he leaned against a tree.

"It's good that he came" he mumbled to himself.

"Indeed."

The masked man turned and saw that there was someone else with him. It was the man with the black mask, the inverse of him so to speak.

"Ah, Zosimus. What brings you here?"

Zosimus glared at him. "So you call me by my name? I hope you forgive me, but I don't know you by your name anymore."

"I understand. Call me Gust than."

"Fine then, Gust."

Gust glanced at him curiously. "What brings you here?"

Zosimus sighed through his black mask. "Ordal was not in the Silver Hand alone."

"Pardon?"

"Fog was with him."

Gust snarled. "Damn it. Him again. Why is that whenever you are nearby, Fog follows?"

"I told you. I guided him for the longest time."

"Indeed. Well I hope he isn't here right now."

"No. He hates my guts for some reason at the moment."

"Rebellious little idiot isn't he?"

Zosimus glared at him. "Be serious."

"Okay, whatever. So why did you bring up Fog? What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that Fog is now perfectly aware about the Dragonborn, all of them."

Gust grunted. "That's not good at all. His grudge with me would carry over to them."

"Exactly. I fear for her safety."

Gust snickered. "Please. Kamaria could kick Fog's ass any day of the week. And if he tries that, I'll rip him in half."

"You know him. He is a better assassin than you are."

"True enough. But I have experience."

Zosimus nodded. "That you do. But be careful. You need to watch your back. If I want to kill you, I target your front. Fog doesn't have the same sense of honor or restraint."

"I am well aware of that fact. Now is there anything else we must discuss?"

"No. I'm going now."

Zosimus turned to leave, then paused. "By the way, if I find you again, I'm taking your head off. I hope you understand that."

"Of course" replied Gust nonchalantly. "I perfectly understand."

He chuckled. "Good luck doing it though."


	24. Chapter 24

Gust stepped down the road, his black cloak blowing in the wind. He was approaching a small mountain, on a dirt path that looked like it had been there for thousands of years. It wasn't used that often, since this place was out of the way.

"So this is the headquarters for the Dragonborn" said Ordal. He had decided to come along to lend his services to them, since they needed all the help they could get.

"Yes" replied the masked man. "We found it a while ago, with one of my first Dragonborn being here."

"Really. I wasn't your first?" inquired Kamaria.

"No. The first was a member of the Blades."

"I thought the Blades were extinct" commented the Imperial.

"They were. The Dragonborn helped revitalize them and founded their old HQ. He's not the oldest Dragonborn, but he's definitely strong."

They finally walked into the cave in the mountain, which wasn't marked at all. They knew it was the right one since there was a fresh torch inside the entrance.

Gust lifted the torch and held it up to his mouth.

"Yol Tuur Shul" he whispered.

A blue flame flew from his mouth in a solid stream, lighting the torch.

"You can whisper Shouts?" asked the Redguard Dragonborn.

"It's very difficult. It concentrates the power, but makes it less volatile."

Ordal looked deeper into the cave. "I do not see anything. Is this headquarters hidden?"

"You could say that" replied Gust striding forward, torch in hand.

He reached the end of the cave, which was a solid stone wall and crouched down. He brushed aside some of the dirt and revealed a stone circle. It was Dragon written all along it and a small hole was in the center.

He reached into his robe and extracted a sword. It looked like it was made of blood, which had aged into a deep crimson color.

He sliced himself across the hand and let some of his blood drip into the hole.

Suddenly the wall before him slid away, revealing a long corridor. It appeared to be Nordic in design, but looked freshly maintained.

"Wow" muttered Ordal. "The Blades knew how to keep a secret."

"Technically, we couldn't open it until the Blades Dragonborn came along" said Gust. "Until that point, the Blades had no way to open it. They couldn't contact me, since they didn't know me, and they had to wait."

"So it only opens to Dragonborn blood?"

"Exactly" confirmed Kamaria. "I've opened it myself a few times. The others have as well."

They walked further down the hall and came to a large atrium. It had a hole in the ceiling that let in plenty of natural light, but there were still fresh torches mounted on the walls.

"I see. You have that hole there when it's sunny, but it can be covered when it rains or storms" noted Ordal.

"You're very observant" murmured Gust.

"I had to be. I was the chief hunter of Hircine once."

Kamaria hugged him. "But you aren't now."

"No. Now I lend my services to you, as long as my mortal life lasts."

Gust glanced back at him. "I am happy to take the help. But you will not lead the final push against Alduin. Only Dragonborn can slay him."

He nodded. "I understand."

"Good."

Someone approached them, an Argonian by the looks of him. He wore deep black armor and had a bow strapped to his back.

"Oi! Who's that guy?" asked the lizard.

"Nice to see you too Je-Dal" muttered Kamaria.

"Yeah whatever. What's up Kamaria? Anyway, who's the guy next to you?"

Gust strode forward. "An ally."

"Damn. Not a Dragonborn? We need to find the rest of them."

"I know. We still have several unaccounted for."

Gust walked over to a small table and picked up a list. It was a table, with ten rows and three columns. Each row was marked with the ten intelligent races of Tamriel, while the columns had three labels: Found, Contacted and Ready.

The masked man calmly went down to Redguard and scratched the final box.

"So now I'm ready" murmured Kamaria.

"Definitely."

Je-Dal grinned and threw an arm over her shoulder. "About time too. You've been eating the food and living under the roof. You were family anyway. Now it's on that piece of paper."

She smiled. "Thanks."

Ordal glanced at the list. "I see that the Nord one has only 2 checked. With all due respect, I met him. He's definitely powerful enough."

"That is for me to decide" replied Gust calmly. "Odei is definitely a potent fighter, but he needs to learn more Shouts."

"Hmm. Makes sense."

The Imperial looked further on the list. "I see you haven't even found Khajiit or Dunmer."

Ordal looked at Gust. "How long do we have?"

"Not long" muttered the masked man. "But we'll be ready. No matter what."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because if we can't stop Alduin, no one can. It's our duty to be ready."

**Serious question: One final scene with Kamaria and Ordal, or not? Be down to earth with me here. I could go either way. Oh, and now that I think about it, this is more of number 5 than 6 considering how short it is. So I'll be changing that.**

**Also shoutout to doomforzombies 16, who I haven't shouted out before. You're a longtime fan of mine and I apologize for not having done so already. Glad to see you're liking the story as much as I am. **


	25. Chapter 25

Kamaria sat in the tree on the outside of the Blades Headquarters, casually swinging her legs from atop the branch. She was pretty calm about it, considering how she was at least fifteen feet off the ground.

Ordal approached her from the courtyard, wearing what appeared to be his old armor. It still was beautifully simple, with stained leather strips running vertically across it and a white cloak blowing behind him. He didn't have his scarf, but now he had a small braid in his hair on the left side.

He stood at the base of the tree and held up a small mug.

"Mead?" he offered quietly.

She leaned forward and took it. "Thanks."

"No problem."

He sat below her and began sipping his own.

"How long has it been?" inquired the Redguard.

"Pardon?"

"How long has it been since we've done this? Just, sit down and do nothing."

Ordal took a sip of mead. "Unfortunately, I never did much of it when I was in the Silver Hand. I was too busy trying to figure the world out."

Kamaria nodded. "I did a lot of nothing when you left. I just couldn't find the strength to do anything."

"That's not true. You found out you were a Dragonborn and you tried to embrace the destiny."

"I didn't do so well. It took me nearly twenty years just to get over you leaving."

He looked up mournfully. "I apologize."

"It's not your fault. It's my own damn fault. I shouldn't have been so doubtful."

"That's not true."

She glared at him. "You never admitted when something was my fault."

"That's not true either. I used to call you out all the time when you were my subordinate."

She laughed. "Yeah. Remember that time Ollrod drank the last barrel of mead and you assumed it was me?"

"You shared it with him. I didn't know that until I asked Palvak."

Kamaria grinned. "Damn Dunmer. Wonder what happened to the old gang."

"Well Ollrod is in the Dawnguard last time I saw him. Palvak still works for Ulfric Stormcloak. Skjor…"

Ordal looked out into the distance. "I killed Skjor."

She looked at him stunned. "What? What happened?"

"Skjor was a Lycanthrope. I was Silver Hand. And…"

He tightened the grip around the tankard. "I was such an idiot."

"No you weren't. You completely forgot him."

Ordal nodded. "Yeah, I say that now. I'm just glad I didn't kill off any more of my old friends."

"I thought you hated Skjor?"

"I did. But that doesn't mean I regret killing him."

Kamaria looked at him. "Don't drown in guilt. I did that for twenty years."

Ordal sighed and took another gulp of mead. "Yeah."

He glanced at his sword. "I had hoped to never touch my sword again. But I have to say, the weight of it is comforting. Just like old times, right?"

"Yeah. Twenty years later."

The Redguard chuckled. "Man, I'm getting old."

He looked at her. "Please. Do you even know how old I am?"

"No."

"I'm sixty."

She stared at him shocked. "What? How? You look like you're twenty."

"Simple. I take an oatmeal bath every day and I drink red wine."

"Mmm. Red wine. I could use some right now."

He chuckled. "Well I can't find anymore. I'm broke."

"That's funny. Normally I was the one who didn't have money."

"Well, I was working with a colonel's pay check."

Kamaria took a gulp of mead. "Man, I do miss the pay. Being a Dragonborn doesn't pay well."

"Indeed."

They heard something rustle into the tree and something landed on the branch next to the Redguard.

"Ah, Ordal. I was wondering when we'd see you again."

The Imperial looked up. "Old Man."

The robed man chuckled. "Everyone calls me that."

"Well you never gave me your name."

"I don't hand that sort of thing out freely. There's only one man I trust with my name."

The Old Man was a short, stout man wearing a simple white robe. His brown hair was in a long braid running down to his waist and he had a straw hat on top. He wasn't carrying any weapons, but something about him made it obvious he was powerful. Perhaps the fact that he was sitting on a tree branch with no shoes and he looked like he was eighty.

"Old Man, you're even older than I am. How can you not give your name?"

The Old Man smirked. "Simple. Names are precious things. I cannot give it away. You understand why Gust never gave his name."

Ordal nodded. "Of course. Gust is the oldest Dragonborn. His reputation is widespread. I've heard of the white masked man even as far as the Black Marsh."

"When were you there?" questioned Kamaria.

"The Silver Hand visited a lot of places. I was in their organization for twenty years."

Old Man chuckled. "I've traveled too much in my time."

He looked out into the valley. "I forgot how beautiful Skyrim was. My home…Nothing can compare to it."

Ordal nodded. "I love this place. The winters are the best."

"The locals are total dicks though" muttered Kamaria.

Old Man grinned. "I don't doubt it. People became real assholes in the last century."

"Century? You're telling me you can compare how they were before?" inquired the Imperial.

"Of course I can. I read books of how they were before."

"So have I."

They both stopped when someone appeared. It seemed that he had climbed up the mountainside into the courtyard. He was covered in dirt and grime, and he appeared to have cuts all over his body.

"Shit that climb gets worse every time I do it" muttered the man. He wore a set of leather armor that held hundreds of bolts across it, in some of the weirdest places too. On his back was a crossbow, which was almost as big as him. It even had a scope on it, with a grip placed midway on it.

"Balathar. I had no idea you worked for the Dragonborn" said Ordal.

"Ah, of course I do. They get the best kills imaginable. Even those queers at the Dark Brotherhood can't compare" said the assassin.

"You haven't changed at all" muttered Kamaria.

"Ah, the little Redguard girl finally came back. Glad to see you're not smeared on a wall somewhere."

She smirked. "Of course I'm not. You knew how much of a badass I was."

"That's why I was so concerned."

Balathar burst into laughter and slammed his back into the tree. Pulling out a small pouch, he extracted what appeared to be a pipe.

He snapped his fingers and lit a Flames spell in his palm. Lighting his pipe, he puffed out a breath of smoke.

"Man, it's comforting to at least have some of the old gang back together" murmured the assassin. "I woke up today thinking I would just be seeing Old Man's ugly ass face when I got to the top. Having you two here was a treat."

Old Man chuckled. "Nice to see you too Balathar."

"Ah, no hard feelings. Not everyone can look as good as I do when they reach seventy."

"You're seventy?" inquired Kamaria. "Gods, what kind of magic do you all use to make yourself look young?"

"Well in my case, it's because I'm a Breton" explained the assassin. "I literally am part magicka. I'm half elf basically."

"Of course you are" murmured Old Man. "Because Bretons are so obviously special."

"Well we are" said Balathar grinning.

Kamaria leaped off the tree. "If you two are going to argue races, I'm leaving before one of you makes a black joke."

"Probably a smart idea" muttered Ordal standing up. "Come on. We have things to do."

The two of them walked towards the headquarters, holding hands.

"Ordal, why do you want to help us?" asked the Redguard. "You fought enough in your lifetime. You've seen more wars than any of us."

"Even if that was true, I don't care" he explained calmly. "If I have to breathe a constant war to make sure the people I care about don't have to suffer, I'd spend all of eternity fighting it."

She smiled. "You are too selfless."

"I don't see why not. I can spend my afterlife with you, so it doesn't matter."

"Are you going to spend your entire existence helping me?"

He gave a small smile. "Only if you want me to. Helping others is the best way I can repay you. You gave me a star to look upon when I was in darkness. I thought I was doomed to be Hircine's plaything for all of my life, but then you showed me what it means to be human. I had already forgotten emotions when you met me, and you made me remember."

She smirked and shoved him lightly. "You make it sound like I did something major. All I did was fall in love with you."

"Who said you fell in love first?"

She chuckled. "Are you going to make this a contest?"

"I just might."

**Well, this story is done! Our heroine didn't need a power-up like most. She just needed to remember how to use it. And I liked bringing Ordal back. He was a favorite character of mine, I confess. Thank you for all of you who read and supported this story. **


End file.
